Can a breath of extra oxygen boost lung rehab?
NCT ID NCT07044843
First seen Sep 10, 2026 · Last updated Sep 11, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are testing whether breathing extra oxygen during exercise training helps people with COPD who have normal oxygen levels at rest but drop low during activity. The trial enrolls 54 adults in a three-week inpatient rehab program. Participants cycle and walk while breathing either extra oxygen, normal air, or simulated thin air to compare endurance and oxygen levels.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- supplemental oxygen delivered through a nasal tube during exercise training
- What this could lead to
- If it helps, this could give rehab teams a clearer reason to offer oxygen during exercise for people with COPD whose oxygen dips only when they move.
- What could go wrong
- The trial is small, with 54 people, and tests oxygen only during a three-week rehab program. Any benefit may be modest or may not last, and oxygen during exercise carries no major risks but can be cumbersome.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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54 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jul 2025
- Finished
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Dec 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * aged ≥ 18 years * stable condition \> 3 weeks (e.g. no exacerbations) * resting SpO2 ≥ 88% and exercise induced hypoxemia defined by a fall in SpO2 by ≥ 4% and/or below 90% during a 6-minute walk test (6MWT) * informed consent as documented by signature. Exclusion Criteria: * Severe daytime resting hypoxemia (SpO2 \< 88%) * 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 * women who are pregnant or breast feeding * enrolment in another clinical trial with active treatment.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
Sankt Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen, 9001, Switzerland
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National center for cardiology and internal medicine
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
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