Efeito do treinamento aeróbio sobre capacidade cardiopulmonar, tolerância ao esforço, função pulmonar e qualidade de vida em pacientes recuperados da COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 Pandemic impacted the world in 2020. This disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 can harm several body systems, with the respiratory and cardiovascular systems being targets for sequelae and dysfunctions that can predispose to intolerance to physical exertion and reduce quality of life (QoL). Physical rehabilitation strategies are necessary to restore impaired functionsin these patients, and aerobic training can contribute to their recovery. Objective: To evaluate the effect of aerobic training on cardiopulmonary capacity, exercise tolerance, pulmonary function and quality of life in patients recovered from COVID-19. Methods: randomized controlled clinical trial, with the participation of individuals recovered from COVID-19 who were allocated in the aerobic training group (ATG, N = 11) and control group (CG, N = 10). Twenty-one volunteers with a mean age of 48,5 ± 10,3 years and mean BMI of 29,9 ± 5,3 kg/m2 were evaluated. The intervention protocol was performed 3x/week for eight weeks, at moderate intensity, it was calculated through ventilatory thresholds1 and 2. Patients allocated to the CG received four lectures with topics on health education every two weeks. Pulmonary function by spirometry, exercise tolerance with the 6-minute (SF-36) walk test and QoL with the SF-36 were evaluated in both groups. Cardiorespiratory exercisecapacity was assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise testing before and after aerobic training. For statistical analysis, the SPSS 20.0 program was used. Normality and homoscedasticity were evaluated by the Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests, respectively. Data are presented as relative and absolute values, mean with standard deviation, mean difference and confidence interval (95%). For all evaluations, a significance level of p<0,05 was considered. Results: Oxygen consumption values increased significantly in the GTA when compared to the pre-intervention (p=0,021), and were statistically different from those found in the CG (p > 0,05). In pulmonary function, no significant changes were found for the variables analyzed. In the 6MWT, the GTA significantly increased the distance covered when compared to the pre-intervention (p<0,05) and was statistically different from the CG (p=0,000). Finally, it was possible to identify a significant increase in all domains of quality of life (p<0,05), with the exception of mental health (p>0,05), only in the GTA. Conclusion: Aerobic training was able to improve cardiorespiratory fitness, quality of life and exercise tolerance in patients recovered from COVID-19.