Rehabilitation Is Associated With Improvements in Post-COVID-19 Sequelae

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Infectious Disease Recovery
• Pulmonology

Background:

• Post-COVID-19 syndrome impacts millions, necessitating effective non-pharmacologic care.
• Rehabilitation is central to managing long COVID sequelae.
• Conflicting study results highlight the need to understand factors influencing rehabilitation outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of supervised rehabilitation on post-COVID-19 recovery.
• To determine if age, sex, timing, or prior disease severity affect rehabilitation outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A non-randomized case-control study involving 119 participants with post-COVID-19 sequelae.
• An intervention group (n=47) underwent 8-week supervised rehabilitation; a control group did not.
• Measurements were taken at baseline and after 8 weeks.

Main Results:

• Rehabilitation participation correlated with significant improvements in physical function (6-min walk test, sit-to-stand), cognitive function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment), and quality of life (EuroQol-5D).
• Improvements were also noted in activity levels (IPAQ), fatigue (FSS, Chalder Scale), respiratory symptoms (mMRC, CAT), and overall function (PCFS).
• Age, sex, and ICU admission did not influence rehabilitation outcomes; timing was marginally associated with the 6-min walk test.

Conclusions:

• Supervised post-COVID-19 rehabilitation is associated with substantial improvements across physical, cognitive, and quality-of-life domains.
• These positive outcomes were achieved irrespective of the rehabilitation's timing, patient age, sex, or prior hospitalization/ICU status.
• Rehabilitation offers a viable non-pharmacologic strategy for managing diverse long COVID symptoms.