Open AccessRehabilitation in adult post-COVID-19 patients in post-acute care with Therapeutic Exercise
Author(s) -
Cristina Udina,
Jordi Fauquet Ars,
Alessandro Morandi,
Jordi Vilaró,
Cristina de Miguel Cáceres,
Marco Inzitari
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the journal of frailty and aging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 2273-4309
pISSN - 2260-1341
DOI - 10.14283/jfa.2021.1
Subject(s) - medicine , intensive care unit , covid-19 , physical therapy , rehabilitation , balance (ability) , barthel index , gait , activities of daily living , physical medicine and rehabilitation , intensive care medicine , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
COVID-19 patients may experience disability related to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission or due to immobilization. We assessed pre-post impact on physical performance of multi-component therapeutic exercise for post-COVID-19 rehabilitation in a post-acute care facility. A 30-minute daily multicomponent therapeutic exercise intervention combined resistance, endurance and balance training. Outcomes: Short Physical Performance Battery; Barthel Index, ability to walk unassisted and single leg stance. Clinical, functional and cognitive variables were collected. We included 33 patients (66.2±12.8 years). All outcomes improved significantly in the global sample (p<0.01). Post-ICU patients, who were younger than No ICU ones, experienced greater improvement in SPPB (4.4±2.1 vs 2.5±1.7, p<0.01) and gait speed (0.4±0.2 vs 0.2±0.1 m/sec, p<0.01). In conclusion, adults surviving COVID-19 improved their functional status, including those who required ICU stay. Our results emphasize the need to establish innovative rehabilitative strategies to reduce the negative functional outcomes of COVID-19.