McDowell Cillian P, Tyner Barrie, Shrestha Shibu, McManus Leah, Comaskey Fearghal, Harrington Patricia, Walsh Kieran A, O'Neill Michelle, Ryan Mairin
Health Information and Quality Authority, Dublin, Ireland
Health Information and Quality Authority, Dublin, Ireland.
BMJ Open. 2025 Mar 22;15(3):e082441. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-082441.
To examine the effectiveness of exercise interventions to improve long COVID symptoms and the tolerance of exercise interventions among people with long COVID.
Systematic review.
Medline via EBSCOhost, Embase via OVID and CENTRAL via the Cochrane Library up to 28 February 2023.
Inclusion criteria were: (1) participants with long COVID, as defined by study authors; (2) random assignment to either an exercise intervention or a comparison group and (3) a quantitative measure of at least 1 of the 12 core long COVID outcomes. Exclusion criteria were: (1) signs or symptoms not reasonably attributable to prior SARS-CoV-2 infection; (2) pre-exposure or postexposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 or the prevention of long COVID symptoms and (3) interventions where the primary exercise component is breathing or respiratory muscle training.
Two reviewers independently extracted data, and studies were narratively synthesised.
Eight studies were included. Follow-up periods ranged from 2 to 28 weeks (mean=8.5 weeks). Sample sizes ranged from 39 to 119 (mean=56). All studies were in adults (mean age=49.9 years) and both sexes (mean female proportion=53.9%). Four studies were at low risk of bias, two were unclear and two were high. The evidence suggests that exercise interventions lead to short-term improvements in dyspnoea, fatigue, physical function and the physical domain of quality of life among people with long COVID. Of the five studies that reported adverse events, rates were low and, when reported, mild. Of the seven studies that reported sufficient relevant information, 1 of 252 participants who received exercise discontinued the intervention due to tolerance-related issues.
Available evidence suggests that exercise interventions may be beneficial and tolerable among some people with long COVID. However, the evidence base consists of a limited number of studies with small sample sizes and short follow-up periods.
探讨运动干预对改善新冠后症状的有效性以及新冠后患者对运动干预的耐受性。
系统评价。
截至2023年2月28日，通过EBSCOhost检索Medline、通过OVID检索Embase以及通过Cochrane图书馆检索CENTRAL。
（1）研究作者定义的新冠后患者；（2）随机分配至运动干预组或对照组；（3）对12项核心新冠后结局中至少1项进行定量测量。排除标准：（1）不能合理归因于既往SARS-CoV-2感染的体征或症状；（2）新冠病毒暴露前或暴露后预防或预防新冠后症状；（3）主要运动成分是呼吸或呼吸肌训练的干预措施。
两名评审员独立提取数据，并对研究进行叙述性综合分析。
纳入8项研究。随访期为2至28周（平均=8.5周）。样本量为39至119例（平均=56例）。所有研究均为成人（平均年龄=49.9岁），男女皆有（平均女性比例=53.9%）。4项研究偏倚风险低，2项不清楚，2项高。证据表明，运动干预可使新冠后患者的呼吸困难、疲劳、身体功能和生活质量的身体领域得到短期改善。在报告不良事件的5项研究中，发生率较低，且报告时症状较轻。在报告了足够相关信息的7项研究中，252名接受运动干预的参与者中有1人因耐受性相关问题停止了干预。
现有证据表明，运动干预对部分新冠后患者可能有益且耐受性良好。然而，证据基础由数量有限、样本量小且随访期短的研究组成。
