Feasibility Pilot Clinical Trial of Omega-3 Supplement vs. Placebo for Post Covid-19 Recovery Among Health Care Workers
Purpose
This is a two-arm, double blind randomized 12-week study to supplement omega-3 (Eicosapentaenoic acid - EPA + docosahexaenoic acid - DHA) among 100 adults (age 18+) who had coronavirus-19 (covid-19) and are experiencing possible after-effects from post-acute sequelae of covid-19 (also called post-covid syndrome or long covid syndrome).
Condition
- COVID-19
Eligibility
- Eligible Ages
- Between 18 Years and 89 Years
- Eligible Genders
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- Team member at Hackensack Meridian Health - Age: 18+ - Willing to provide informed consent - Formal diagnosis of COVID-19 via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)test (if home test was done, team member must confirm via PCR test) - Outpatient treatment only for covid-19; no hospitalization (most team members will be vaccinated and may likely have milder case) - Must be experiencing 1+ ongoing covid-19 symptom being measured in this study (respiratory symptoms (shortness of breath, cough), fatigue, loss of taste, loss of smell) - Symptom(s) have persisted for more than 12 weeks after initial infection - Symptom(s) coincided with covid-19 infection and were not present prior to covid-19 infection - Does not have soy allergy - Does not have allergy to fish - Able to participate in bi-weekly surveys in Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) - Able to take own blood pressure and record it in bi-weekly REDCap survey - Willing to participate in 12-week study and be assigned to either intervention or placebo arm - Not currently taking an omega-3 supplement or other high-dose supplement (over 2,000 IU) with potential for aiding recovery of long covid syndrome (e.g. zinc, Vit C, Elderberry). - Able to take/swallow six mini-pills daily - Able and willing to give a spot blood sample (2 drops) at baseline and end of study.
Exclusion Criteria
- Not a Team Member at Hackensack Meridian Health - Not age 18+ - Unwilling to provide informed consent/ declined to take part - No formal diagnosis of COVID-19 via PCR test (if home test was done, team member must confirm via PCR test) - Were hospitalized for treatment of covid-19 - Not experiencing 1+ ongoing covid-19 symptom being measured in this study (respiratory symptoms (shortness of breath, cough), fatigue, loss of taste, loss of smell) - Symptom(s) have persisted for more than 12 weeks after initial infection - Symptom(s) did not coincide with covid-19 infection and were present prior to covid-19 infection - Does have soy allergy - Does have allergy to fish - Not able to participate in bi-weekly surveys in REDCap - Able to take own blood pressure and record it in bi-weekly REDCap survey - Not willing to participate in 12-week study and be assigned to either intervention or placebo arm - Currently taking an omega-3 supplement or other high-dose supplement (over 2,000 IU) with potential for aiding recovery of long covid syndrome (e.g. zinc, Vit C, Elderberry). - Unable to take/swallow six mini-pills daily - Not able and not willing to give a spot blood sample (2 drops) at baseline and end of study.
Study Design
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel Assignment
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
- Masking Description
- Everybody but the pharmacy team dispensing the drug will be masked.
Arm Groups
Arm | Description | Assigned Intervention |
---|---|---|
Experimental Study arm - Omega 3 supplement |
Omega-3 (EPA+DHA) - Dose is 2,100mg per day via 3 mini-capsules, 2x/day (a total of 6 mini-capsules per day). Each capsule has 252mg of EPA and 102mg of DHA. |
|
Placebo Comparator Control arm - placebo |
3 Soybean Oil Placebo capsules 2x/day (a total of 6 mini-capsules per day). |
|
Recruiting Locations
More Details
- NCT ID
- NCT05121766
- Status
- Terminated
- Sponsor
- Hackensack Meridian Health
Detailed Description
This is a double-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two treatment arms: Arm 1 - Omega-3 (Eicosapentaenoic acid - EPA + docosahexaenoic acid - DHA) - Dose is 2,100mg per day via 3 mini-capsules, 2x/day (a total of 6 mini-capsules per day). Each capsule has 252mg of EPA and 102mg of DHA. Support for dosing: - The American Heart Association (AHA) says taking up to 3 grams of fish oil daily in supplement form is considered safe; - Up to 5,000mg of omega-3 fatty acids per day is considered safe; - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends consuming no more than 3 g/day of EPA and DHA combined, including up to 2 g/day from dietary supplements. Arm 2 - Placebo - made from soybean oil (same dosing schedule as intervention arm)