- McNarry M, et al. Late Breaking Abstract - A randomised control trial using inspiratory muscle training in post-COVID-19 rehabilitation. Abstract OA169. ERS 2021, 5-8 September.
The recovery of COVID-19 is associated with prolonged symptoms, including breathlessness. Some patients even report breathlessness for more than 1 year after the acute infection. There is an urgent need for identifying home-based rehabilitation strategies. Prof. Melitta McNarry (Swansea University, UK) and colleagues therefore investigated the role of IMT in COVID-19 recovery1.
In total, 250 adults recovering from self-reported COVID-19 were included in the study. Shortness of breath was the primary inclusion criteria. Participants were randomised to an IMT program (n=200) or to the control group (n=50). The intervention group followed IMT sessions 3 times per week for an 8-week period. The sessions took place remotely through Zoom. At baseline and post-intervention, breathlessness, respiratory muscle strength, fitness, and physical activity were assessed.
Results showed that IMT improved all the previous outcomes. Breathlessness was significantly reduced by 33%. In addition, fitness was significantly increased by 15%. However, no improvement on physical activity nor on sleep was observed. Prof. McNarry was pleased to report that IMT contributes to recovery following COVID-19. Only 3 sessions per week showed a clear improvement on long-term symptoms. Overall, IMT is an acceptable and feasible unsupervised rehabilitation tool that should be considered for wider implementation.