What Researchers Did
Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in 10 patients with long COVID, administering 10 sessions over 12 days and assessing fatigue and cognitive function.
What They Found
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) led to statistically significant improvements in the Chalder fatigue scale (p=0.0059) and global cognition (p=0.0137). Significant improvements were also observed in executive function (p=0.0039), attention (p=0.0020), information processing (p=0.0059), and verbal function (p=0.0098) after 10 sessions.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
This study suggests that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) may offer a promising intervention for Canadian patients experiencing debilitating long COVID symptoms such as fatigue and cognitive impairment. While encouraging, patients should consult their healthcare providers to discuss potential benefits and availability as this is an early evaluation.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
A significant limitation of this study is its very small sample size of only 10 patients, which limits the generalizability of the findings.