The European respiratory journal
October 9, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Home-based, remotely supervised, high-intensity interval training and cardiorespiratory fitness in children and adolescents with post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans: a randomised controlled trial.
Salazar-Pérez F, Sanz-Santiago V, de Mir-Messa I, +11 more, Donadio MVF.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Remotely supervised home-based HIIT improved cardiorespiratory fitness and functional capacity in children and adolescents with post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans.
What was studied
An assessor-blinded multicentre randomized trial in 51 patients with PIBO aged 6-20 years (25 exercise, 26 control) comparing 16 weeks of real-time remotely supervised HIIT with general physical activity advice, with cardiopulmonary exercise testing as the primary outcome.
Key findings
- Peak oxygen uptake improved by a mean difference of 3.39 mL/kg/min (p=0.04)
- Time to first ventilatory threshold improved by 1.05 min (p=0.04)
- The 30-second sit-to-stand test improved by 2.21 repetitions (p=0.04); no differences in other variables
Clinical relevance
Tele-supervised exercise may be a feasible way to improve fitness in a rare population with limited access to rehabilitation.
Who should care
Limitations
Small trial, p values at the margin of significance without multiplicity adjustment, no change in lung function or quality of life, and exercise group not blinded.
Remote HIIT improved fitness in PIBO, but larger and longer trials should confirm it.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
While high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has shown effectiveness in improving cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) across various chronic respiratory diseases, its impacts on individuals with post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans (PIBO) remain unexplored. Our aim was to assess the effects of a home-based, remotely supervised, HIIT programme on CRF, clinical and functional variables in patients with PIBO.
Methods
Participants of this assessor-blinded, multicentre, randomised controlled trial were individuals with PIBO aged 6-20 years. An exercise (EXE) group underwent two 40-min sessions of HIIT remotely supervised in real time per week. Sessions were continued for 16 weeks. The control (CON) group adhered to general physical activity recommendations. The primary outcome was peak oxygen uptake (V̇ O2 peak), time to first ventilatory threshold (VT1), percentage of V̇ O2 at VT1 and ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide, determined via cardiopulmonary exercise testing on a treadmill. Secondary outcomes were lung function (spirometry), muscle strength (dynamometry), functional capacity (30-s sit-to-stand (30s-STS) test), body mass index and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire score.
Results
51 PIBO patients were enrolled (EXE group n=25; CON group n=26) (49% females; mean±sd age 13.3±4.2 years; forced expiratory volume in 1 s -3.56±1.28 (z-score); V̇ O2 peak 36.8±8.6 mL·kg-1·min-1). The HIIT intervention resulted in improvements in V̇ O2 peak (mean difference 3.39 mL·kg-1·min-1; p=0.04), time to VT1 (mean difference 1.05 min; p=0.04) and number of repetitions in the 30s-STS test (mean difference 2.21 repetitions; p=0.04). No differences were found in the other variables.
Conclusions
Our real-time, remotely supervised HIIT intervention was effective at significantly increasing CRF and functional capacity in children and adolescents with PIBO.
DOI
10.1183/13993003.00265-2026
PMID
42242758
PMCID
PMC13650447
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
Want more like this?
Browse more from the feed. A free account unlocks the full feed, saving and communities.
Back to the research feed