Does COVID-19 Affect the Exercise Capacity of Non-hospitalized Patients

Abstract

Objective To determine whether non-hospitalized adults post COVID-19 have impaired exercise capacity. Design Retrospective analysis. Setting Cardiovascular outpatients unit in Instituto Cardiovascular de Rosario, Argentina. Patients Eighty non-hospitalized patients post-infection by COVID-19. Interventions Participants completed an ergometry pre and post COVID-19 infection. Main outcome measures The study's main variables were the metabolic equivalents of task (METs) and the indirect peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak). Results The median of METs was 11.7 (9.4-14.8) and 11.7 (11-11.7) in pre and post ergometry, respectively, (p = 0.022). The median VO2 (mL/Kg/min) was 21857 (16938-32761) and 21699 (17004-26467) in pre and post ergometry, respectively, without significant differences. Conclusions We found slight differences in maximal physical capacity evaluated through exercise testing in nonhospitalized patients by COVID-19.