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Outcomes of patients with COVID ‐19 after inpatient rehabilitation
Author(s) -
Groah Suzanne L.,
Pham Cynthia T.,
Rounds Amanda K.,
Semel Jennifer J.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
pmandr
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.617
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1934-1563
pISSN - 1934-1482
DOI - 10.1002/pmrj.12645
Subject(s) - medicine , rehabilitation , covid-19 , observational study , body mass index , retrospective cohort study , physical therapy , cohort study , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background Rehabilitation outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) are unknown. Objective To describe patients with COVID‐19 who are undergoing inpatient rehabilitation and their rehabilitation outcomes. Design Retrospective observational cohort study of all inpatients from a rehabilitation hospital between March 1 and September 30, 2020. Setting Inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Patients Among all inpatients, inclusion criteria are: ≥18 years of age and admission and discharge within the study time frame. The initial search yielded 920 patients; 896 met the inclusion criteria. Subjects were stratified by COVID‐19 status and rehabilitation impairment. Main Outcome Measures Data included age, gender, body mass index (BMI), length of stay (LOS), discharge location, and functional ability in self‐care and mobility (FA‐SC, FA‐Mob). One‐sample t ‐tests were used to assess the difference of age, BMI, LOS, FA‐SC, FA‐Mob, and FA efficiency between COVID‐19+ and COVID‐19− patients. Results COVID‐19+ patients were younger (59.4 years vs 62.9 years; t[894] = −2.05, p = .04) with a higher mean BMI (32 vs 28; t[894] = 3.51, p < .01) than COVID‐19− patients. COVID‐19+ patients had equivalent or superior improvements in FA‐SC and FA‐Mob, functional change efficiency, and LOS relative to COVID‐19− patients. When medically complex patients were compared, those with COVID‐19 had greater FA‐SC and FA‐Mob efficiencies than COVID‐19− patients. COVID‐19+ patients had similar rates of return to the community. Conclusions Patients with COVID‐19 who meet the admission criteria for inpatient rehabilitation can benefit from inpatient rehabilitation similarly to their non‐COVID‐19 counterparts with similar rehabilitation‐specific diagnoses.