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Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Patients With Long COVID: Evaluating Functional Capacity and Exercise Limitations
Lotte Sørensen1, Camilla Lundgren Pedersen2, Mads Jønsson Andersen3
1Department of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
CHEST Pulmonary
|August 4, 2026
Summary
Patients with long COVID show reduced exercise capacity, including lower peak oxygen uptake. This exercise limitation persists one year after infection, with no significant improvement observed in cardiopulmonary exercise testing parameters.
Area of Science:
- Cardiopulmonary exercise testing
- Long COVID research
- Post-viral syndromes
Background:
- Persistent symptoms like breathlessness and exercise intolerance are common after COVID-19.
- These ongoing issues can affect patients even after mild acute infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the exercise capacity of individuals diagnosed with long COVID.
- To determine if exercise capacity changes from baseline to a 1-year follow-up.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective case series of patients with persistent symptoms post-COVID-19.
- Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) used to evaluate exercise capacity.
- Comparison of CPET parameters with predicted values and subgroup retesting at 1-year.
Main Results:
- 169 patients completed baseline CPET; 41 completed 1-year follow-up.
- Significant proportions of patients exhibited reduced peak oxygen uptake (36%) and oxygen uptake/workload slope (54%).
- No statistically significant improvements in CPET parameters or self-reported physical fitness were observed at 1-year follow-up.
Conclusions:
- Long COVID patients exhibit heterogeneous deficits in exercise capacity, including reduced peak oxygen uptake and altered gas exchange efficiency.
- Exercise capacity and self-reported physical fitness remain significantly impaired one year post-infection.
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