Coscia, Francesco, Mancinelli, Rosa, Gigliotti, Paola Virginia et al. · Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023 · DOI
This study looked at how physical activity affected fatigue and other symptoms in people with Long COVID-19. Researchers compared people who stayed active with those who were sedentary and tracked their symptoms over 6 to 12 months. They found that people who remained physically active experienced a larger drop in fatigue over time compared to those who were inactive, though both groups still had muscle weakness and sleep problems.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS because it identifies a potential Long COVID-19 subgroup (8%) with ME/CFS-like symptomatology, and it provides comparative data on how activity levels correlate with fatigue trajectory—critical information given the ongoing debate about exercise in post-viral fatigue conditions. Understanding symptom overlap between Long COVID-19 and ME/CFS helps distinguish these conditions and may inform personalized management strategies.
This observational study cannot prove that physical activity *causes* better fatigue recovery—only that activity correlates with it; people who remained active may have differed in other unmeasured ways (genetics, baseline fitness, illness severity). The study does not establish safe or effective exercise prescriptions for Long COVID-19 or ME/CFS, nor does it clarify why 8% of patients developed ME/CFS-like symptoms or whether activity level influenced who fell into that group.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Coscia, Francesco, Mancinelli, Rosa, Gigliotti, Paola Virginia, Checcaglini, Franco, & Fanò-Illic, Giorgio (2023). Physical Activity Effects on Muscle Fatigue in Sport in Active Adults with Long COVID-19: An Observational Study.. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13071336
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-coscia-2023-physical-activity,
author = {Coscia, Francesco and Mancinelli, Rosa and Gigliotti, Paola Virginia and Checcaglini, Franco and Fanò-Illic, Giorgio},
title = {Physical Activity Effects on Muscle Fatigue in Sport in Active Adults with Long COVID-19: An Observational Study.},
journal = {Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.3390/diagnostics13071336},
note = {PubMed: 37046554},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/coscia-2023-physical-activity},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/coscia-2023-physical-activity
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