Facilitators and barriers of long-term exercise adherence in healthcare workers formerly suffering from post-COVID-19 syndrome : A qualitative 1-year follow-up and quantitative pilot study of the COFIT trial.

Background: Early exercise intervention studies showed promising positive effects of physical exercising on post-COVID-19 symptoms; however, little is known about long-term training adherence and what influences it.

Material And Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants of the 8‑week original exercise intervention study. Facilitators and barriers were identified via thematic analysis and compared between those participants who continued their regular exercise behavior (continuous exercise group, CEG, n = 7) and those who stopped exercising (discontinuous exercise group, DEG, n = 10).