Impact of comprehensive rehabilitation on functional capacity, fatigue, and quality of life among long-term COVID-19 survivors in resource limited settings - a randomized controlled trial
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17267/2238-2704rpf.2024.e5840Keywords:
Exercise Tolerance, Fatigue, Health Related Quality Of Life, Long COVIDAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Months or even year after COVID 19 infection, patients suffered from persistent symptoms. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of comprehensive rehabilitation on functional capacity, fatigue, and quality of life in long-term COVID-19 survivors in resource limited settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Comprehensive rehabilitation comprising of aerobic, strength, balance, flexibility, breathing exercise and education was administered in low-resource settings to patients aged 25-60 years diagnosed with long COVID in this randomised controlled trial. Functional capacity (assessed by six-minute walk test), fatigue (assessed by fatigue severity scale), and quality of life (assessed by EQ-5D-5L) were documented at the baseline and after six weeks in intervention (n=19) and control (n=19) groups. Categorical variables were reported as percentages and continuous variables as mean and standard deviation (SD). Independent t-test was used for the between group comparison and paired t test for within group comparison to establish the statistical significance. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Effect size and post hoc power analysis were performed. Effect sizes were interpreted according to the Cohen's classification. RESULTS: Significant improvements were observed in fatigue (p = 0.006, effect size = -1.23), EQ-5D-5L index scores (p = 0.007, effect size = -0.73), EQ-5D visual analog scale scores (p = 0.002, effect size = 1.09), and six-minute walk distance (p < 0.0001, effect size = 1.37) following the rehabilitation program. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive rehabilitation in low-resource settings effectively enhances quality of life, reduces fatigue, and improves functional capacity among long-term COVID-19 survivors.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Digvijay Sharma, Hina Vaish
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
