Effects of a Comprehensive Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Severe Post-COVID-19 Patients

Background: Severe COVID-19 infection often leads to impairments requiring pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) following the acute phase. Little is known about the efficacy of PR in these patients. We therefore compared post-COVID-19 patients (PG) referred to PR patients with other lung diseases (LG). Methods: 99 PG were admitted to PR. In a prospective design, the results of PG were collected and compared to the results of LG of 2019 (n = 419) according to Functional Independence Measurement (FIM), Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS), 6-min walk test (6-MWT), duration of PR, and Feeling Thermometer (FT). Results: According to age, sex, and CIRS, both groups showed no significant differences. The improvements in the 6-MWT in the pre to post comparison were on average 180 (+/- 101) meters for PG and 102 (+/- 89) meters for LG (p < 0.001). FT showed a significant enhancement for PG of 21 (+/- 14) points and for LG of 17 (+/- 16) points (p < 0.039), while FIM significantly increased by 11 (+/- 10) points in PG and 7 (+/- 8) points in LG (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Comprehensive PR in PG is very effective according to the results in FIM, 6-MWT and FT. Therefore, we recommend PR following severe post-COVID-19 infections.

Automated summary

The study found that comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation for post-COVID-19 patients (PG) was highly effective in terms of Functional Independence Measurement (FIM), 6-minute walk test (6-MWT), and Feeling Thermometer (FT), showing significant improvements compared to patients with other lung diseases (LG).