CST2 provides a cost-effective measure of cardiovascular fitness for long Covid patients.
Case numbers for long Covid are high, with The Office for National Statistics reporting that one in five people with coronavirus will develop longer-term symptoms. On reading further, the NHS has looked to establish long Covid services across the UK with the best management as outlined by The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). There are currently 69 sites designated.
NICE guidelines acknowledge that it is advantageous “to consider an exercise tolerance test to assess breathlessness, heart rate changes, and oxygen saturation in many cases.
Chester step test 2 (CST2) is our digital version of the Chester step test. The Chester Step test originated with Professor Sykes. We use it in many sectors from the Blue lights, particularly Fire and Police, any maritime worker, and widely in the NHS in Cardiac rehab. Previous research exists for this test with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
CST2 is both accurate, reliable and cost-effective. With this in mind, we believe it is ideally placed as an existing, proven measure that can be repurposed to measure patients’ baseline in long Covid rehab and further assess their recovery and efficacy of given rehabilitation strategies. CST2 digital back end solution can measure trend analysis and be enriched with other health and fitness metrics such as the Sp02, as also recommended by NICE.
Further information is below
The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome on the physical profile and quality of life https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003999304014236
A randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of an exercise training program in patients recovering from severe acute respiratory syndrome https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0004951405700027
Evaluation of a prospective randomized controlled exercise program for people recovering from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/2257
Systematic Review of Changes and Recovery in Physical Function and Fitness After Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome–Related Coronavirus Infection: Implications for COVID-19 Rehabilitation https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/100/10/1717/5876270?login=true
Pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095882X20300414
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/management/managing-long-term-effects/
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/12/long-covid-patients-to-get-help-at-more-than-60-clinics/
Chester Step Test Long Covid Edition is available here. Chester Step Test Software CST2