Pulmonary rehabilitation focusing on the regulation of respiratory movement can improve prognosis of severe patients with COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China, it has become a global public health emergency. Besides conventional care, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an equally important treatment for patients with COVID-19 suffering from respiratory, physical and psychological disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of PR on the inpatients with severe COVID-19.Methods: This study was a self-pre-and post-control prospective clinical trial, which totally recruited 31 inpatients confirmed COVID-19 by RT-PCR. They were performed 3-weeks PR. The demographic data, medical records, symptoms, laboratory findings and chest computed tomographic (CT) scans of patients were collected at baseline. The effect of PR was assessed by questionnaires before PR as well as after 2-and 3-weeks PR.Results: After 3-weeks PR and treatment, neutrophil percentage decreased, while lymphocyte percentage and lymphocyte count increased (before vs. 2 weeks after PR respectively: P=0.001; P=0.001; P<0.0001).Besides, CRP and procalcitonin reduced significantly (before vs. after respectively: P<0.0001; P=0.023).Patients' oxygen intake decreased and oxygen saturation increased significantly. Meanwhile, PR relieved the patients' symptoms of cough and dyspnea, improved the patients' self-care ability, physical fitness and mental state significantly. Activities of daily living (ADL) score increased and Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (mMRC) decreased after PR.Conclusions: PR can relieve symptoms, enhance health-related quality of life, improve respiratory muscle function and alleviate disease-related anxiety and depression of severe patients with COVID-19. PR should be provided throughout the diseases management process, regardless of whether the patient is hospitalized or at home.

Short-Term Effects of a Respiratory Telerehabilitation Program in Confined COVID-19 Patients in the Acute Phase: A Pilot Study

“…However, not many clinical trials have been published concerning the effectiveness of this intervention. To our knowledge, only a randomized controlled trial in elderly subjects has been published [ 35 ]. We have not found any study implementing the acute stage of these patients, so our findings may become a reference in the management of COVID-19.…”

“…We have not found any study implementing the acute stage of these patients, so our findings may become a reference in the management of COVID-19. Hospitalized patients with severe symptomatology have been studied, benefits have been found after the implementation of respiratory training, and positive physiological parameters in blood analytics have been reported [ 35 ]. However, this information is difficult to obtain in a study such as the one we performed.…”

Developing Pulmonary Rehabilitation for COVID-19: Are We Linked with the Present Literature? A Lexical and Geographical Evaluation Study Based on the Graph Theory

“…In fact, hospital care settings and timing of hospitalization are very different in the two diseases. The care units involved in the hospitalization of patients with COVID-19 are mostly intensive care units (ICUs) [33][34][35][36]. Data analysis reported that a median length of hospital stay ranged from 4 to 53 days in China and 4 to 21 days outside China [34].…”

Prevalence of comorbid tuberculosis amongst COVID‐19 patients: A rapid review and meta‐analysis

“…A total of 114 eligible studies 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ,…”