Authors (including presenting author) :
Chau KWC, Lee CKD, Yu TWD, Chan CMA
Affiliation :
Physiotherapy Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Introduction :
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has been continuing to spread worldwide since 2019. In Hong Kong, more than 2.2 million confirmed cases have been reported as at December 2022 with around 5% hospitalization rate. The symptoms were described to be diverse, affecting respiratory, physical and psychosocial aspects. The post COVID-19 symptoms, with fatigue and dyspnea as the most prevalent, could lead to different extent of daily life disturbance. The post COVID-19 symptoms not only affected the hospitalized survivors, but also the non-hospitalized. 63.2% of the survivors still exhibited post COVID-19 symptoms after 30 days from the disease onset. A comprehensive COVID-19 rehabilitation program is essential to enhance recovery of the COVID-19 survivors.
Objectives :
The aim of the study was to evaluate the physical and functional outcomes of the Physiotherapy outpatient rehabilitation program for COVID-19 survivors.
Methodology :
This was a retrospective study. Participants with recovered COVID-19 reporting post COVID-19 symptoms were recruited to the Physiotherapy outpatient rehabilitation program for COVID-19, upon discharge from hospitalization in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, or referred from the Medical Infectious Disease Clinic. An 8-week rehabilitation program consisted of cardiopulmonary training, muscle strengthening, dyspnea management and home exercises was delivered to the participants. Outcome measures used were St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), 30-second sit-to-stand test (30STST), hand grip strength (HGS), body mass index (BMI) and body composition. Maximal rate of oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and metabolic equivalent of task (MET) from submaximal exercise stress test were also measured. Outcomes were measured at baseline and upon completion of the program.
Result & Outcome :
Data from 32 participants, with a mean age of 58.7±13.1 years, 53.1% of female and 46.9% of male, were retrieved and analyzed. All the scores of SGRQs showed significant improvements with 7.25 (p=0.013) in symptom, 10.8 (p=0.01) in activity, 7.38 (p=0.007) in impact and 8.41 (p<0.001) in total score. For functional outcomes, 6MWD also showed significant increment of 49.6 meters (p<0.001). A significant increment of 1.48 repetitions (p<0.001) was resulted in 30STST. Both VO2max and MET from submaximal exercise stress test showed significant improvements of 0.82 ml/kg/min (p=0.03) and 0.24 (p=0.031) respectively. HGS of dominant hand also showed significant increment of 1.63kgF (p=0.046). For body composition, a fat reduction of 0.77% (p=0.015) and increment of 0.81kg (p=0.009) muscle mass were reported. BMI and HGS of non-dominant hand showed insignificant results.
