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Effectiveness of tele-rehabilitation in the recovery of motor abilities in post-Covid Patients: Preliminary Results

2023; Elsevier BV; Volume: 106; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.gaitpost.2023.07.051

1879-2219

Serena Cerfoglio, Paolo Capodaglio, Rossi Paolo, Verme Federica, Boldini Gabriele, Cvetkova Viktoria, Manuela Galli, Cimolin Veronica,

Diabetic Foot Ulcer Assessment and Management

Patients who underwent severe Covid-19 infection often report disabling symptoms both at motor and respiratory level [1–4]. Concerning the motor aspects, Covid-19 survivors are characterized by joint pain, reduced exercise capacity and muscular deconditioning, negatively impacting on daily activities [5,6]. In order to restore the pre-infection physical capacity, rehabilitation and physiotherapy play a key role in the functional recovery since the early stages of the disease [7]. However, during the pandemic period, the traditional face-to-face approach for rehabilitation was not always feasible. In this context, tele-rehabilitation [8] represented a new tool to support health-care structures in the management and in the provision of rehabilitation programs with an individualized approach within the limits of the symptoms. In this study we assessed the effectiveness of a motor and respiratory tele-rehabilitation program on the recovery of functional exercise capacity in post-Covid hospitalized patients. A group of 19 post-Covid individuals (age: 55.23 ± 7.59 years, weight: 100.76 ± 16.60 kg, height: 163.57 ± 5.33 cm, M: 3, F: 16) suffering persisting motor and/or respiratory symptoms after severe Covid-19 infection were enrolled in this study. The patients were admitted to the functional recovery units of San Giuseppe Hospital (Verbania, Italy) and Clinica Hildebrand (Brissago, Switzerland) for a 4-week multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. After their discharge, patients continued their rehabilitation path at home through a 3-week personalized motor and respiratory tele-rehabilitation program, using a proper easy-to-use technological equipment. The patients were assessed at hospital admittance time (T0), at discharge time (T1) and after tele-rehabilitation (T2) via instrumental and clinical tests. With respect to motor aspects, the maximum handgrip force of the dominant upper limb was assessed with a dynamometer, whilst the gait parameters retrieved from the instrumented 6-minute walking test (i6MWT) performed via a body-worn inertial device (G-Sensor, BTSBioengineering, Italy) were used to assess changes in patients' functional exercise capacity. Out of the current sample, 10 patients (M: 3, F: 7) have completed the full rehabilitation path and have been assessed at all the planned time points. The overall results of motor assessment (Fig. 1) report an improving trend in terms of percentage change for walked distance (T1-T0: +16.4%, T2-T0: +18.1%), walking speed (T1-T0: +15.8%, T2-T0: +19.7%), stride length (T1-T0: +4.4%, T2-T0: +8.3%), cadence (T1-T0: +7.5%, T2-T0: +8.9%) and maximum isometric force (T1-T0: +6.6%, T2-T0: +19.1%). Fig. 1 - Mean and standard deviation of the retrieved gait and force parameters. Difference between T1-T0 and T2-T0 is reported in terms of percentage change.Download : Download high-res image (66KB)Download : Download full-size image According to the preliminary results, an improvement in patients' functional exercise capacity and muscular strength can be observed, supporting the effectiveness of the proposed therapeutic approach. The complete data analysis, including also clinical and respiratory aspects, will be performed on the full sample.