Did the Physical and Psychological States of Outpatients Receiving Rehabilitation at a Geriatric Health Services Facility Decline during the State of Emergency Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

Many Geriatric Health Services Facilities in Japan may have continued outpatient rehabilitation by taking measures against infection even during the state of emergency caused by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present study aimed to determine differences in physical and psychological states in rehabilitation outpatients (age, 83.5 ± 8.4 years) at a Geriatric Health Services Facility between the pre- and post-nationwide state of emergency in Japan. Physical outcomes were assessed with gait speed (GS), timed up and go test (TUG), handgrip strength (HG), and maximum phonation time (MPT). We used the Japanese version of the five-level EuroQoL five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) to assess patients’ quality of life (QoL) as the psychological state. The physical (GS, pre, 0.92, post, 0.92 s, p = 0.875; TUG, pre, 14.09, post, 14.14 s, p = 0.552; HG, pre, 19.42, post 19.70 kgf, p = 0.807; MPT, pre, 13.6, post, 13.8 s, p = 0.861) and psychological (EQ-5D-5L, pre, 0.73, post, 0.81, p = 0.064) states of the participants did not change significantly between the pre- and post-nationwide state of emergency. This was likely due to the continuance of outpatient rehabilitation in accordance with the facility’s policy while taking adequate safety precautions against COVID-19 infection.

Changes in Physical and Psychological States with Respect to the Gender of Outpatients Receiving Rehabilitation at Geriatric Health Services Facilities during the COVID-19 State of Emergency

“…This study was a sub-analysis of a longitudinal study of 20 consecutive elderly participants who underwent outpatient rehabilitation at the Elder Village geriatric health services facility in Kobe, Japan, from January 2020 to the end of May 2020, based on our previous report [ 7 ]. Outpatients who did not provide informed consent, could not walk unaided, and who could not attend outpatient rehabilitation during the state of emergency due to their preference and/or personal convenience of the participant or their family were excluded from this study.…”

“…Outpatients who did not provide informed consent, could not walk unaided, and who could not attend outpatient rehabilitation during the state of emergency due to their preference and/or personal convenience of the participant or their family were excluded from this study. Infection prevention measures including mask-wearing, handwashing, disinfection of equipment, and other measures were strictly enforced for the participants and staff [ 7 ]. The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the ASUNAROKAI medical corporation (Approve date: 9 April 2021).…”

“…Each session comprised a warm-up period, upper and lower limb and body stretches, resistance training, aerobic exercise, and cooldown period [ 11 ]. Exercise intensity was such that heart rate was maintained at a perceived exertion rating of 11–13 on the Borg scale as reported previously [ 7 , 11 ]. Data on the characteristics of the participants were from their medical records; age, sex, body mass index (BMI), long-term care insurance level, living alone, diagnosis, and medications were evaluated.…”

“…However, our previous study found that by taking effective measures against infection during a state of emergency, geriatric health services facilities in Japan have continued to perform outpatient rehabilitation. As a result, the physical and psychological states of the outpatients did not significantly decrease as determined before and after the nationwide state of emergency [ 7 ]. It is well known that gender-related differences in physical and psychological states exist [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Older phase 2 cardiac rehabilitation patients engaged in gardening maintained physical function during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…A report on patients with cardiovascular disease revealed a decline in their physical function [ 14 ]. However, the physical function of older patients who underwent outpatient rehabilitation during the pandemic, while taking sufficient safety measures did not deteriorate [ 15 ], but it is often difficult to improve the environment for infection prevention.…”