Internal medicine

Cohort study

Observational study

Rehabilitation

Disease

Fraction of inspired oxygen

Population

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Economic growth

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Intensive care medicine

Physical therapy

Health care

Emergency medicine

Economics

Mechanical ventilation

Intensive care unit

Pulmonary rehabilitation

Cohort

Acute care

Medicine

Environmental health

European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is quickly spreading, putting under heavy stress health systems worldwide and especially Intensive Care Units (ICU). Rehabilitation Units have a crucial role in reducing disability in order to reintroduce patients in the community.AIM: The aim of this study is to characterize pulmonary function and disability status and to propose an early rehabilitation protocol in a cohort of post-acute COVID-19 patients admitted to an Italian Rehabilitation Unit.DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study.SETTING: Inpatients Rehabilitation Unit.POPULATION: Post-acute COVID-19 patients.METHODS: Demographic, anamnestic and clinical characteristics, laboratory exams and medical imaging findings were collected for the entire cohort. Outcome measures evaluated at the admission in Rehabilitation Unit were: type of respiratory supports needed, fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2), FiO2/PaO2, Barthel Index (BI), modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnoea Scale, and 6-Minute Walking Test (6-MWT). Furthermore, we proposed an early rehabilitation protocol for COVID-19 patients based on baseline FiO2.RESULTS: We included 32 post-acute COVID-19 patients (22 male and 10 female), mean aged 72.6±10.9 years. BI was 45.2±27.6, with patients in need of higher FiO2 (≥40%) showing lower values: 39.6±25.7 vs. 53.3±29.3. All patients had grade 4 or 5 on the mMRC Dyspnea Scale. Only 14 COVID-19 patients were able to walk (43.7%). 6-MWT was feasible in 6 (18.8%) patients with a mean distance of 45.0±100.6 meters.CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our findings suggest that post-acute COVID-19 patients suffered from dyspnea and shortness of breath even for minimal activities, with a resulting severe disability, and only a few of them were able to perform 6-MWT with poor results. An early rehabilitation protocol was proposed according to the baseline conditions of the patients.CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: This study could provide an accurate description of COVID-19 sub-acute patients admitted to a Rehabilitation Unit along with a proposal of treatment to help physicians to tailor the best possible rehabilitative treatment.

Early rehabilitation in post-acute COVID-19 patients: data from an Italian COVID-19 Rehabilitation Unit and proposal of a treatment protocol