Effectiveness of a Primary Care Telerehabilitation Program for Post-COVID-19 Patients: A Feasibility Study

Marcelo Dalbosco-Salas, Rodrigo Torres-Castro, Andrés Rojas Leyton, Franco Morales Zapata, Elisabeth Henríquez Salazar, Gabriel Espinoza Bastías, María Elizabeth Beltrán Díaz, Kris Tapia Allers, Daniela Mornhinweg Fonseca, Jordi Vilaró, Marcelo Dalbosco-Salas, Rodrigo Torres-Castro, Andrés Rojas Leyton, Franco Morales Zapata, Elisabeth Henríquez Salazar, Gabriel Espinoza Bastías, María Elizabeth Beltrán Díaz, Kris Tapia Allers, Daniela Mornhinweg Fonseca, Jordi Vilaró

Abstract

In many health systems, it is difficult to carry out traditional rehabilitation programs as the systems are stressed. We evaluate the effectiveness of a telerehabilitation program conducted in primary care in post-COVID-19 patients. An observational, prospective study was conducted in seven primary care centers in Chile. We included adult patients (>18 years) with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The telerehabilitation program consisted of 24 sessions of supervised home-based exercise training. The efficacy was measured by the 1-min sit-to-stand test (1-min STST), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), fatigue, and dyspnea symptoms before and after intervention. We included 115 patients (55.4% female) with a mean age of 55.6 ± 12.7 years. Fifty-seven patients (50%) had antecedents of hospitalization, and 35 (30.4%) were admitted to the ICU. The 1-min STST was improved after the intervention from 20.5 ± 10.2 (53.1 ± 25.0%predicted) to 29.4 ± 11.9 (78.2 ± 28.0%predicted) repetitions (p < 0.001). The SF-36 global score improved significantly from 39.6 ± 17.6 to 58.9 ± 20.5. Fatigue and dyspnea improved significantly after the intervention. Although limited by the absence of a control group, this report showed that a telerehabilitation program applied in primary health care is feasible and was effective in improving physical capacity, quality of life and symptoms in adult survivors of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; dyspnea; fatigue; physical capacity; quality of life; telerehabilitation.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the selection process.

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