Multimodal Telerehabilitation in Post COVID-19 Condition Recovery: A Series of 12 Cases

Abstract

Background: Post COVID-19 Condition is a recently recognized syndrome characterized by the persistence of various symptoms, including dyspnea, physical and mental fatigue, and post-exertional malaise. Currently, there is no established treatment or clear consensus on the effectiveness of rehabilitation, and given that patients could benefit from home-based rehabilitation, telerehabilitation, defined as remote rehabilitation using telematic systems, may be an option to reach more of the population with persistent COVID-19 symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary to show the efficacy of this telematic approach and the benefits of a multimodal rehabilitation strategy in these patients. Methods: Patients underwent home rehabilitation using a 12-week synchronous telerehabilitation system. The intervention included therapeutic education and physical and respiratory rehabilitation. The following variables were analyzed: Fatigue, quality of life, dyspnea, respiratory strength, aerobic capacity, and upper and lower limb strength. Conclusions: After 12 weeks, significant improvements were found in fatigue, aerobic capacity, and limb and respiratory strength. However, no improvement was found in dyspnea scores, which did not correlate with respiratory strength. Interestingly, a post-intervention correlation emerged between the distance covered in aerobic capacity and perceived fatigue, suggesting that asynchronous telerehabilitation could be a viable treatment strategy for these patients.

Keywords: fatigue; long COVID; physiotherapy; post COVID-19 condition; rehabilitation; telerehabilitation.

Figure 1

Correlation between dyspnea (mMRC) and PIM-PEM.

Figure 2

Correlation between fatigue (FSS) and meters (6 MWT).