Effectiveness of a Telehealth Exercise Program to Improve Lung Function in Young Adults After COVID: A Pilot Study

Background/Objectives: COVID-19 can have adverse effects on individuals’ lung functions for up to 6 months or more after the episode. Patients may suffer from respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath, persistent cough and fatigue. As a result, people may be reluctant to exercise and this can have further adverse effects on their lung capacity and fitness. Methods: This study examined the effects of a Telehealth exercise (TE) program to encourage patients to do regular stepping exercise (up to 10,000 steps) through frequent Whatsapp messages and a live video recording provided via a website link. The Control group only received an initial message to encourage them to do regular stepping exercise via Whatsapp and no further followup. Results: 60 young healthy adults were recruited and allocated to the TE group (n=36) and the Control group (n=24). Pre- and post-training comparison of lung function tests revealed significant improvement in FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio and PEFR in the TE group only, whereas Control group showed no significant change. TE group recorded an average daily step counts of 9733 at end of 4 weeks’ training compared to 7165 at baseline. Control group showed no change in daily step counts after the 4 weeks period. Conclusions: The results confirmed the beneficial effects of telehealth exercise program to encourage people to perform more regular stepping exercise which contributed to significant improvement in their lung function performance.