NCT06503913

Cognitive Muscular Therapy for Patients With Long-COVID and Breathing Pattern Disorder

Cognitive Muscular Therapy for Patients With Long-COVID (Post COVID-19) and Breathing Pattern Disorder

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Salford · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The aim of the study is to test a treatment known as "Cognitive Muscular Therapy (CMT)" for reducing breathlessness and improving autonomic function in patients with long-COVID.

Detailed description

A key symptom of long-COVID is dysfunctional breathing, characterised by an alteration in the muscular and mechanical control of breathing, such as altered movement/coordination of diaphragm and ribs. Long-COVID patients also experience symptoms such as dizziness and fatigue, which have been linked to dysautonomia (dysfunction of the nervous system controlling automatic body functions). Importantly, dysautonomia is connected to alterations in breathing mechanics. Specifically, rapid breathing, high in the chest, is associated with increased activity in the fight-or-flight system and decreased activity in the rest-and-repair system. Given this link, interventions capable of improving breathing mechanics could alleviate many long-COVID symptoms. However, current breathing retraining methods lack visualisation of breathing mechanics and do not integrate a whole-body approach to improving postural control. We have developed a clinical system which can visualise breathing mechanics in real-time, providing patients with a "window into their body". We propose to integrate this system within a new intervention, known as Cognitive Muscular Therapy (CMT). CMT integrates psychological informed physiotherapy with training to reduce overactivation of postural muscles which can interfere with the mechanics of breathing. We propose to test this combined intervention on 20 people with Long-COVD to understand if we can improve respiratory function and symptoms associated with dysautonomia. If successful, this pilot study could pave the way for large-scale studies in long-COVID

Conditions

• Long COVID
• Respiratory Disease

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Cognitive Muscular Therapy	Psychologically informed physiotherapy which integrates training to reduce overactivity of postural muscles which can interfere with the mechanics of breathing.
BEHAVIORAL	Breathing visualisation	Breathing visualisation; Data from two 3D camera are combined and used to calculate respiratory volumes. These volumes are then used to drive an animation of breathing so that the patient can understand how their breathing pattern compares to an optimal pattern. Note this is not a medical device as data from this system is only used for education and not for diagnostic or treatment decisions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-08-01
• Primary completion: 2026-03-01
• Completion: 2026-04-01
• First posted: 2024-07-16
• Last updated: 2025-12-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom