AUTHOR=Powell Adam W. , Mays Wayne A. , Wittekind Samuel G. , Chin Clifford , Knecht Sandra K. , Lang Sean M. , Opotowsky Alexander R. 

TITLE=Stable fitness during COVID-19: Results of serial testing in a cohort of youth with heart disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2023.1088972

DOI=10.3389/fped.2023.1088972

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Little is known about how sport and school restrictions early during the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted exercise performance and body composition in youth with heart disease (HD).</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A retrospective chart review was performed on all patients with HD who had serial exercise testing and body composition <italic>via</italic> bioimpedance analysis performed within 12 months before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Formal activity restriction was noted as present or absent. Analysis was performed with a paired <italic>t</italic>-test.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>There were 33 patients (mean age 15.3 ± 3.4 years; 46% male) with serial testing completed (18 electrophysiologic diagnosis, 15 congenital HD). There was an increase in skeletal muscle mass (SMM) (24.1 ± 9.2–25.9 ± 9.1 kg, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), weight (58.7 ± 21.5–63.9 ± 22 kg, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), and body fat percentage (22.7 ± 9.4–24.7 ± 10.4%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.04). The results were similar when stratified by age &lt;18 years old (<italic>n</italic> = 27) or by sex (male 16, female 17), consistent with typical pubertal changes in this predominantly adolescent population. Absolute peak VO<sub>2</sub> increased, but this was due to somatic growth and aging as evidenced by no change in % of predicted peak VO<sub>2</sub>. There remained no difference in predicted peak VO<sub>2</sub> when excluding patients with pre-existing activity restrictions (<italic>n</italic> = 12). Review of similar serial testing in 65 patients in the 3 years before the pandemic demonstrated equivalent findings.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>The COVID-19 pandemic and related lifestyle changes do not appear to have had substantial negative impacts on aerobic fitness or body composition in children and young adults with HD.</p></sec>