PERCEIVE study (GET for Long Covid): Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia

Art Vandelay

Art Vandelay

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
The announcement of this study caused a firestorm on Twitter and continues to do so:



With the exception of a "clever" acronym, nothing adds more to the credibility of a clinical trial than announcing "promising results" before it has even finished:

Long COVID study tests using exercise to overcome symptoms

The PERCEIVE study, run out of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, and the Menzies Institute in Hobart, is looking into how exercise might be able to help improve symptoms in people suffering long COVID.

So far, it is showing promising results.

In its pilot form, the study has found that a personalised exercise program seems to be effective when it comes to helping people who have a reduced capacity for exercise after having COVID-19.

About one-quarter of participants in the pilot program fit into that cohort.

After participating in the exercise regimen, they experienced about a 15 per cent increase in the amount of exercise they were able to do.

Leading cardiologist and principal investigator for the PERCEIVE study, Tom Marwick, said he was "thrilled" with the results so far.
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Interestingly, the study found that many participants perceived their exercise capacity to be less than what it was.

"It's understandable," Professor Marwick said.

"When they're exercising, they're feeling fatigued, they feel terrible.

"In some situations, that arises from the brain fog, in other situation that arises from a direct effect on the heart or direct effect on the muscles, so there's a lot of contributors to that."
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Amid all the self-serving puffery and psuedoscientific babble there is one disclaimer:

But the findings also came with a warning: Exercise will not help everyone with long COVID.

"We think that this is a situation where exercise needs to be, if you like, prescribed. It's like medication," Professor Marwick said.

"It's not giving a message to people post-COVID that they need to exercise. It's not helpful because everyone's ability to exercise and ability to increase their exercise is different."
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Of course, there's no mention of PEM, ME/CFS or whether the allegedly improved patients have been able to return to work.


ETA: the story mentions this is a "pilot study". I wonder if they couldn't get enough participants for a full trial?
 
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article said:
In its pilot form, the study has found that a personalised exercise program seems to be effective when it comes to helping people who have a reduced capacity for exercise after having COVID-19.

About one-quarter of participants in the pilot program fit into that cohort.

After participating in the exercise regimen, they experienced about a 15 per cent increase in the amount of exercise they were able to do.

Leading cardiologist and principal investigator for the PERCEIVE study, Tom Marwick, said he was "thrilled" with the results so far.
Click to expand...
Am I reading that right, a quarter of participants improved their exercise capacity by 15%? And that's thrilling?
 
I watched the TV coverage and interview with the leading investigator twice to make sure I hadn't misheard that underwhelming 15% improvement figure.

The reporter said, "People with long covid can do more exercise than they think they can. They just don't feel too good afterwards."
 
Here's the information from their website:

PERCEIVE (COVID heart) study
https://baker.edu.au/research/clinical-trials/perceive-study

The Persistent cardiovascular effects of COVID-19 viral infection study (PERCEIVE) is looking for people who have had COVID-19.

The PERCEIVE study aims to understand whether COVID-19 causes damage to the heart and impacts functional capacity. We also want to know if best practice management (e.g. heart medication or exercise training) can restore function.

If you have had COVID-19 infection you may qualify for this important study which includes cardiac scans and exercise testing to see if any damage has occurred to your heart. If there is evidence of heart damage, you will receive a review with a cardiologist (heart doctor) and you could receive either exercise training or medications to help the heart recover.

Who can participate?
You may be eligible for this study if you:

  • are aged 50 years and over
  • have had a COVID-19 infection.
COMPLETE THE STUDY APPLICATION FORM

What’s involved?
If you have had COVID-19 and are interested in participating, you will need to complete a screening visit to determine if you qualify for this study. This appointment will occur at the Baker Specialist Clinics (Melbourne or Hoppers Crossing) or the Menzies Institute for Medical Research (Hobart) and include a brief clinical assessment (including questionnaires, a walking test and blood test). Based on your assessment we will determine your eligibility to continue in the PERCEIVE study.

Those who carry on in the study will be asked to attend another appointment for further assessment, including:

  • a heart echo scan
  • an exercise test
  • additional blood tests.
Based on the results of these tests, we will determine if you continue to the next stage of the study which involves review by a cardiologist, prescribing medications that protect the heart and a program of exercises to improve your fitness.

The study runs for 24 months with clinical reviews every 6 months.

At the end of the study, we will ask you to come into the clinic once again to have another brief clinical assessment, exercise and echo tests to see if the treatment has been beneficial.

If you would like further information, please contact the PERCEIVE study team in your area: (contact details at link)
 
It's a big study with 820 participants aged over 50, and has already been running for 2 years. (November 2021 to December 2024). Since the aim is prevention of heart failure, they need large numbers running for a long time with groups having drug treatments with exercise, exercise alone, and no treatment.
I guess the preliminary results are from the small percentage who have completed the 2 years.
 
The reporter said:
The reporter said, "People with long covid can do more exercise than they think they can. They just don't feel too good afterwards."
Click to expand...
Newsflash, if I choose not to exercise because I need to do paperwork, socialize, shop, or do my basic ADLs in the 2-3 days afterwards, I'm not able to exercise.
 
Perceive, how Orwellian.

Marketing the study while it's ongoing, and showing pathetic "benefits", that 15% is definitely something to sneeze at, now that's peak evidence-based medicine. It really is all about perception, just not the patients'.

The researchers are clearly showing they understand nothing of the issues, did not bother listening to the patients and went in with all biases possible. The description about how it relates to brain fog is just ridiculous, they are trying to fit in concepts they just learned about in ways that they think is what the patients are saying, but since they don't listen to a damn word patients tell them they're wrong about that.

They're stuck at reduced exercise capacity, clearly did not hear a single word from the patients talking about even minor exertion. They think that 15% improved capacity means something but they don't even know about PEM.

Pathetic. It's getting so hard for me to respect medical professionals at this point. It's not a personal thing, it's the profession that is clearly in a state of crisis, having reached the limits that ego-driven medicine can deliver a long time ago.

It still remains that the only parts of medicine that are good are based on science. This is not science, it's pseudoscience marketing. The parts that aren't any good are not based on science. This is very simple to understand, it's almost a mathematical formula: science = useful + good, not science = not useful and bad.
 
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