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Move With Air: Exercise Training Study

Study Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of a stream of cool air to the face, through fan-to-face therapy, as a novel adjunct non-pharmacological therapy to enable symptomatic adults with cardiopulmonary disease to exercise at higher intensities for longer durations and maximize the psycho-physiological benefits of a supervised exercise training program. The investigators hypothesize that, compared to no fan, fan-to-face therapy will result in relatively greater improvements in exercise endurance time and intensity ratings of perceived breathlessness during constant-load cardiopulmonary exercise testing on a treadmill at 75% of peak power output following a 5-week exercise training period.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms	No
Study Type An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.	Interventional
Eligible Ages	40 Years and Over
Gender	All

More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

- have a physician diagnosis of cardiopulmonary disease (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease, heart failure) - have a body mass index of >18.5 kg/m2 and <35 kg/m2.

- be cleared to participate in a supervised exercise training program by their primary care physician.

Exclusion Criteria:

- have changed their respiratory or cardiac medication dosage and/or frequency of administration in preceding two weeks.

- have had a disease exacerbation/hospitalization in preceding six weeks.

- have important contraindication(s) to exercise (e.g., significant musculoskeletal or neurological disease) or pulmonary function testing (e.g., eye, chest or stomach surgery, or any history of coughing up significant amounts of blood in the previous 3 months).

Trial Details

Trial ID: This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.	NCT05646407
Phase Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans. Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data. Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs. Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.	N/A
Lead Sponsor The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.	McGill University
Principal Investigator The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.	Dennis Jensen, PhD
Principal Investigator Affiliation	McGill University
Agency Class Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.	Other
Overall Status	Recruiting
Countries	Canada
Conditions The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.	Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Interstitial Lung Disease, Heart Failure
Study Website:	View Trial Website

Additional Details

Prospective participants will complete four assessment visits (V1-V4) and 15 supervised exercise-training (T1-T15) sessions (3 sessions per week for 5 weeks). The purpose of visit 1 (V1) is twofold: 1) to screen potential participants for study eligibility; and 2) for participants identified as eligible, complete pulmonary function testing and an incremental exercise treadmill test to determine the relative intensity for visit 2 (V2). At V2, participants will undergo a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan to assess body composition prior to the 5-week supervised exercise training. Participants will also perform an exercise endurance treadmill test at V2 performed at 75% of peak power achieved on the incremental exercise test from V1. Following V2, participants will be randomized to 5-weeks of 3x/week (total of 15 sessions) supervised exercise training to one of the two experimental conditions: (i) fan-to-face; or (ii) no fan (control). Exercise sessions will be individualized based on participants' ITT and progressed to ensure the participant is exercising at an intensity corresponding to a breathlessness intensity rating of between 3-5 Borg CR10 units and can complete at least 10 to 20-min of continuous walking. Exercise duration will be increased in 1 to 5-min intervals up to a maximum of 40-min. Thereafter, exercise intensity will be increased by 5-15% of baseline speed. Visit 3 (V3) will be done after the completion of the 5-week exercise training and will comprise of a second DEXA scan to assess for changes in body composition and the same exercise endurance test at V2 to assess for changes in exercise endurance time. Visit 4 (V4) will comprise of the same incremental exercise test as V1 to assess for changes in cardiovascular fitness.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Experimental: Exercise training with Fan-to-face

Participants randomized to the fan-to-face group will perform supervised exercise training with a basic, portable fan (Honeywell HT-900 Turbo Force Air Circulator). The fan will be placed to the front of the treadmill with airflow directed toward the area of the face innervated by the second and third branches of the trigeminal nerve. The airflow speed will be chosen by each participant so that it is most comfortable to them. An anemometer will measure the airflow from the fan.

No Intervention: Exercise training with no fan

Participants randomized to the no fan group will perform supervised exercise training with no fan. The exercise duration and intensity titration will follow the same format as the experimental group.

Interventions

Device: - Honeywell HT-900 Turbo Force Air Circulator

This is a basic, portable, household fan with a single cost of CDN$21.99.

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.