Function and activity capacity at 1 year after the admission to intensive care unit for COVID-19

To describe hand grip strength, walking speed, functional mobility, and postural control at one year following intensive care unit admission for COVID-19, and to find any predictors that are associated with impaired hand grip strength, walking speed, functional mobility, or postural control at the 1-year follow-up.

Retrospective cross-sectional and longitudinal observational study.

Intensive care unit and outpatient research clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

Of the 105 individuals in "The Gothenburg Recovery and Rehabilitation after COVID-19 and Intensive Care Unit" cohort, 78 participated in this study.

Descriptive statistics for hand grip strength, walking speed, functional mobility, and postural control were presented and binary logistic regressions were performed to find their significant predictors.

At 1-year following intensive care unit admission for COVID-19, impaired hand grip strength was found in 24.4% for the right hand and 23.1% for the left hand. Walking speed, functional mobility, and postural control were found to be impaired in 29.5%, 21.8%, and 5.1%, respectively. For impaired walking speed, longer length of stay at intensive care unit and presence of diabetes mellitus were risk factors. Diabetes mellitus was found to be the risk factor for impaired functional mobility.

In this study, 45% of the participants showed impairment in function, activity capacity or both. These results suggest that individuals who recovered after intensive care unit admission for COVID-19 would benefit from receiving long-term follow-up to enable identification of those with need of physical health assistance and rehabilitation.