https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2023.2524
Pulmonary rehabilitation improves functional outcomes and quality of life in post-SARS-CoV-2 mild-to-moderate infection patients: a pilot study
Submitted: January 12, 2023
Accepted: April 3, 2023
Published: April 4, 2023
Accepted: April 3, 2023
Abstract Views: 932
PDF: 300
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
SARS-CoV-2 infection impairs functional outcomes and quality of life, even in its mild-to-moderate form. Therefore, it is appropriate to draw attention to the role played by respiratory rehabilitation and physiotherapists in the pulmonary rehabilitation process that post-SARS-CoV-2 patients must undergo. We enrolled 80 patients in a prospective case-control study; 40 cases (mild-to-moderate post-SARS-CoV-2 infection patients) and 38 control subjects (i.e., patients affected by other respiratory diseases) completed the same full pulmonary rehabilitation cycle. 6-minute walking distance, Borg category-ratio 10 scale, modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale, European quality of life 5-dimensions-3-level (EuroQoL EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire, Barthel scale, arterial blood gas test, and peripheral oxygen saturation were compared for all patients before and after rehabilitation. All patients experienced significant improvements in all parameters analyzed, except for the arterial blood gas test. Results were similar for both groups; in particular, both groups experienced improvements in the mMRC scale, EuroQoL EQ-5D-3L questionnaire, Barthel scale, and 6-minute walking distance. Pulmonary rehabilitation appears to improve exercise tolerance, dyspnea, and quality of life in patients recovering from a mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further studies are needed on a larger sample size population to validate these results.
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Ethics Approval
All patients underwent a standard pulmonary rehabilitation cycle, were followed by professional physiotherapists and signed an informed consent form (available upon request) for data protection and collection for scientific purposes.How to Cite
Levi, Guido, Marco Umberto Scaramozzino, Stefania Cavallo, Giuliano Castignini, Michela Bezzi, Laura Pini, Frank Nania, and Sheenam Sheenam. 2023. “Pulmonary Rehabilitation Improves Functional Outcomes and Quality of Life in Post-SARS-CoV-2 Mild-to-Moderate Infection Patients: A Pilot Study”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 94 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2023.2524.
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