Comparing NASA Lean Test results with Long COVID symptoms
Dr Manoj Sivan (LOCOMOTION Co-Chief Investigator) has co-authored a publication comparing findings from the NASA Lean Test (NLT) with Long COVID (LC) symptoms reported on the C19-YRS (a validated LC outcome measure that is being further assessed and validated within LOCOMOTION).
Publication Citation
Isaac RO, Corrado J, Sivan M.
Detecting Orthostatic Intolerance in Long COVID in a Clinic Setting.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 5804.
Orthostatic Intolerance and the NASA Lean Test
A likely mechanism of LC is dysautonomia, manifesting as orthostatic intolerance (OI). The NLT can detect OI syndromes of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) or Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) in a clinic setting.
Methods
Data from the NLT and C19-YRS was collected for 100 people with LC and analysed:
- NLT - Maximum heart rate increase, blood pressure decrease, number of minutes completed, and symptoms experienced during the NLT.
- C19-YRS - Palpitation and dizziness scores.
Results
NLT and C19-YRS data were compared and the findings were:
- No significant difference between reported dizziness or palpitation scores in those with normal NLT and those with abnormal NLT.
- A poor correlation between symptom severity score and NLT findings.
Conclusion
Based on the lack of a correlation between palpitations and dizziness reported on the C19-YRS with NLT
findings, the paper recommends using the NLT in all LC patients in a clinic setting, regardless of
presenting LC symptoms.
Visit our ‘Scientific Publications’ page to find publications that are outputs of the LOCOMOTION study.