Oxygen During Exercise Training for People With Chronic Lung Disease
Tests extra oxygen versus room air during lung rehabilitation exercise in people with COPD.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
- Where
- Winterthur, SwitzerlandSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Hyperoxia During Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Chronic Lung Disease - Does it Matter?
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 32 people, planned
- Started
- 6 Jan 2025
- Expected to end
- 1 Aug 2027
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets a placebo (a dummy treatment), for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Oxygen
- Room Air (placebo)
- Record updated
- 10 September 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with COPD who are in pulmonary rehabilitation and whose oxygen level drops during exercise but is not low at rest.
- Age
- 18 years or older
- Sex
- Men and women
- Disease stage
- Confirmed COPD (FEV1/FVC ratio below 0.7, smoking history of more than 10 pack-years). Stable for more than 3 weeks, with no exacerbations.
- Earlier treatment
- Must be in pulmonary rehabilitation. People on long-term oxygen therapy cannot join.
- Biomarker or test result
- Resting oxygen saturation (SpO2) of 88% or higher. During a 6-minute walking test, SpO2 falls by 4% or more and/or goes below 90%.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Severe low oxygen at rest (SpO2 below 88%)
- Long-term oxygen therapy
- Unstable condition, need for intensive care, or severe other disease
- Cannot follow study procedures or cannot walk or ride a bicycle
- Pregnant or breastfeeding, or in another trial with active treatment
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 11 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- We will include male and female with a confirmed diagnosis of COPD (post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) / forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio of <0.7; a greater than 10 pack-year smoking history)
- undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation
- aged ≥ 18 years
- stable condition > 3 weeks (e.g. no exacerbations)
- resting oxygen saturation (SpO2) ≥ 88%
- exercise induced hypoxemia defined by a fall in SpO2 by ≥ 4% and/ or below 90% during a 6MWT
- informed consent as documented by signature
Who cannot take part
- long-term oxygen therapy, unstable condition requiring adaptation of pharmacologic and other treatment modalities or requirement of intensive care or relevant severe concomitant disease
- inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, neurological or orthopedic problems with walking disability or inability to ride a bicycle
- Severe daytime resting hypoxemia (SpO2 < 88% )
- women who are pregnant or breast feeding; enrolment in another clinical trial with active treatment
Where in Switzerland
- Kantonsspital WinterthurWinterthur, SwitzerlandContact: Spencer Rezek, PhD cand.Taking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global burden. Treatment options have improved in recent years, pulmonary rehabilitation plays a key role. Oxygen therapy is recommended in patients with a low saturation at rest, but no clear guidance is given for patients who desaturate during exercise. The effect of ambulatory oxygen during exercise is not yet completely understood, especially in those patients with exercise-induced desaturation.
Read full original descriptionShow less
Aim: Evaluate the effect of supplemental oxygen therapy during a 3-months long ambulatory pulmonary rehabilitation program on exercise endurance. Patients will either receive supplemental oxygen therapy or room air during exercise training.
Methods: A total of 32 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COPD undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation will be included (male and female : aged ≥ 18 years; stable condition \> 3 weeks (e.g. no exacerbations); resting oxygen saturation (SpO2) ≥ 88% and exercise induced hypoxemia defined by a fall in SpO2 by ≥ 4% and/ or below 90% during a 6-minute walking test). 3-months comprehensive PR for both intervention and control group including: education and awareness, instruction on inhalation therapies, smoking cessation counselling, respiratory and skeletal muscle training in groups, guided walks / cycle ergometer training. The intervention group will be trained using SSOT and the control group will receive sham air (ambient air). Patients and assessors will be blinded. Between group difference in cycling constant work rate exercise test (CWRET) time from baseline to 3 months SSOT (5l/min) vs ambient air will be the primary outcome of this study.
Data will be summarized by means (SD) and medians (quartiles) for normal and non-normal distributions. Effects of treatment will be evaluated by mean differences with 95% confidence intervals, T-tests or Wilcoxon matched pair tests as appropriate. A p-value threshold of <0.05 or a confidence interval not including zero will be considered as statistically significant. Analyses will be performed according to the intention to treat principle.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Endurance training with 5l/ min room air applied via nasal cannula.Placebo, for comparison
Endurance training with 5l/ min room air applied via nasal cannula with an Everflo oxygen concentrator.
Treatment: Room Air (placebo)
- Endurance training with 5l/ min Oxygen Therapy applied via nasal cannula.Treatment being tested
Endurance training with 5l/ min Oxygen Therapy applied via nasal cannula with an Everflo oxygen concentrator..
Treatment: Oxygen
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Hyperoxia During Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Chronic Lung Disease - Does it Matter?
- Plain-language title
- Oxygen During Exercise Training for People With Chronic Lung DiseaseGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 10 September 2026