From the Lab to Real Life: Monitoring Cardiorespiratory Fitness during the COVID-19 Pandemic through Wearable Devices. An Exploratory Longitudinal Study on Healthy Participants

Abstract

COVID-19 containment measures hampered population cardiorespiratory fitness (which can be quantified as peak oxygen consumption (O2peak)) and the possibility to assess it using laboratory-based techniques. Although it is useful to ascertain the O2peak recovery after lockdowns, the community and most scientific institutions were unable to evaluate it. Wearable devices may provide the opportunity to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness outside of the laboratory, without breaking self-isolation; herein, we explore the feasibility of this approach. Fifteen healthy participants were tested every 2 weeks for 10 weeks during a reduction of containment measures after a strict lockdown. Physical activity levels were measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF). O2peak was estimated through a previously validated test based on the speed of a 60 m sprint run, the baseline-to-peak heart rate (HR) variation, and the velocity of HR decay after the sprint, and measured through a wearable HR monitor. Participants increased physical activity from the end of lockdown (1833 [917–2594] MET-min/week; median [1st quartile–3rd quartile]) until the end of follow-up (2730 [1325–3380] MET-min/week). The estimated O2peak increased by 0.24 ± 0.19 mL/(min*kg*week) (regression coefficient ± standard error). Based on previous knowledge on the impact of inactivity on O2peak, our study indicates that a 10-week period of reducing the stringency of containment measures may not be sufficient to counteract the detrimental effects of the preceding lockdown.