Global mapping of exercise interventions among COVID-19 survivors: protocol for a scoping review

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unparalleled threat to all dimensions of human health and well-being. The Pan American Health Organization has acknowledged the crucial role of rehabilitation therapies for COVID-19 and emphasised the importance of exercise programmes for COVID-19 survivors. This scoping review outlines our strategy for systematically reviewing published and unpublished literature to investigate the volume of evidence for exercise interventions for COVID-19 survivors.

This scoping review will be conducted based on the framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley. Six databases (PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, ProQuest and CINAHL) will be searched in August 2022 and articles will be considered for inclusion published till July 2022. Studies will be screened by two independent reviewers at the title/abstract and full-text screening stages, as well as data extraction and critical assessment. Data will be extracted in a data extraction form and presented as figures and tables with narratives. This scoping review will give a thorough understanding of the current literature on exercise interventions for COVID-19 survivors, as well as identify knowledge gaps that will guide future research. Preliminary searches will be conducted after the publication of this scoping review protocol.

No human or animal participants were involved in this review. Therefore, ethical committee approval is not required. Transparency will be followed at every review stage. Review findings will be disseminated through peer-review publications or through conference presentations.