NCT05037110

Physical Activity and Smell Trainings to Help Individuals With Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Recover From Persistent Smell and Taste Impairments - A Pilot Study

Physical Activity and Sensory Trainings to Help COVID-19 Patients Recover From Persistent Smell and Taste Impairments - A Pilot Study

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 75 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Université de Montréal · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The primary objective of this study is to identify efficient treatments to help those with chemosensory losses due to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To do so, 75 participants, men and women, aged 18 years old and above living in Canada will be recruited. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the following three groups (25 in each group): physical activity, smell training, and control. Here is a quick summary of what participants in each group will have to do remotely during 12 weeks: * Physical activity group: Engage in physical activity for 12 weeks and wear a smart watch daily. Attend a 15-minute virtual meeting with a research professional every two weeks, that is six times during the 12 weeks. * Smell training group: Smell four odors twice a day for 12 weeks and evaluate their sensory perceptions via an online survey sent for each session specifically. Attend a 15-minute virtual meeting with a research professional every two weeks, that is six times during the 12 weeks. * Control group: Not change their usual routine for 12 weeks. Complete an online 15-minute follow-up questionnaire every two weeks, that is six times over the 12 weeks. In addition, within each group, 10 individuals from Montreal, Quebec will be randomly selected to complete additional assessments in the laboratory. To distinguish this subgroup, it is called the "in-person subgroup." Participants will be assessed at the beginning of the intervention period, immediately after the intervention period, and 12 weeks after the end of the intervention period. The assessments include various questionnaires on sociodemographic data, physical and mental health, lifestyle habits, sensory dysfunction, nutritional preferences, as well as self-administered smell and taste tests sent by mail. The in-person subgroup only will have to do the following additional assessments: smell and taste tests using special equipment (olfactometer, gustometer, electroencephalogram) and online questionnaires on food intake for the day.

Conditions

• Covid19

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Physical activity	For 12 weeks, do 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week and wear a smart watch to monitor this physical activity goal. This is done remotely. Then, every two weeks, attend a remote individual meeting with a kinesiologist using a secured application (15 minutes each). Each online meeting will contain the following steps: 1) Review of health and activities recorded by the activity watch/app provided to the participant; 2) Discussion on how to reach/maintain the physical activity goal in the coming weeks according to individual health status, facilitators and barriers; 3) Elaboration of the next 2-week action plan.
OTHER	Smell training	For 12 weeks, morning and evening, smell four odors namely eucalyptol, phenyl ethanol, citronellal, and eugenol, for a total of five minutes per session. For each smell training session, complete a short, online survey regarding the pleasantness and intensity of the smell. This is done remotely. Then, every two weeks, attend a remote individual meeting with a research professional using secured application (15 minutes each). Each online meeting will contain the following steps: 1) Review of smell training; 2) Discussion on how to reach/maintain the training protocol in the coming weeks according to individual health status, facilitators and barriers; 3) Elaboration of the next 2-week action plan.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-10-25
• Primary completion: 2023-06-01
• Completion: 2023-06-01
• First posted: 2021-09-08
• Last updated: 2021-11-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada