Low-Intensity Pulmonary Rehabilitation Through Videoconference for Post-Acute COVID-19 Patients

RATIONALE: In mid-March 2020, all rehabilitation centers in Rio de Janeiro closed as a strategy to contain the progress of COVID-19. Patients who went through the acute phase of disease noticed the need for rehabilitation follow-up, at that time was impossible to perform presently. The objective of this study was to verify whether a pulmonary rehabilitation program through videoconference could improve patients' exercise capacity after the acute phase of COVID-19. METHOD: We prospectively evaluated 196 subjects during the post-acute phase of COVID-19, without requiring ICU admission and they were divided into two groups. The Control Group (CG) with 92 subjects receiving no non-drug intervention for six weeks, and the Intervention Group (IG) with 104 subjects that performed a low-intensity Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program (PRP) during 6 weeks, held at home, with a weekly session by videoconference. As all the protocol was performed trough videoconference, the exercise capacity was assessed through 30 seconds sit-to-stand test (STS), the fatigue sensation after the exercise using 10-points Borg Scale, and the Physical Activity in Daily Life (PADL) assessed using a cell phone application that measures moves you in steps/day. RESULTS: The IG after the six weeks of PRP, achieved a significant increase in the STS and PADL, and an important decrease in the sensation of fatigue after exercise (p <0.05). The control group does not present a significant improvement in AFVD and STS and does not show improvement in the fatigue sensation. CONCLUSION: Our findings reinforce the importance of evaluating and offering a low-intensity program for patients after the acute phase of COVID-19, that in this population presented improvement in exercise capacity, AFVD, and feeling of fatigue after 6 weeks, compared to subjects who did not perform a PRP and they did not achieve this improvement after that time.