Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of early pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on the course of the disease, respiratory functions, physical activity, fatigue, and discharge time in COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting.
Method: A total of 31 patients with COVID-19 as confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) who were admitted to the ICU were included. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data of the patients were recorded. Physical activity, dyspnea, and fatigue of all patients were evaluated before and after PR program. All patients were evaluated on the day of PR in the ICU, on the day of discharge from ICU to the ward, and on the day of discharge from hospital. Functional status was evaluated using the Functional Disability Questionnaire (FDQ), the ambulation status using the Functional Ambulation Classification (FAC), dyspnea using the modified Borg Scale (MBS), and fatigue using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).
Results: The mean length of ICU and hospital stay was 17.93±11.54 days and 18.29±8.41 days, respectively. The mean number of sessions was 8.87±7.66. The mean time from hospitalization to recovery was 13.00±9.62 days. Median FDQ and MBS scores were significantly higher during the ICU stay than the ward stay and at the time of discharge (p

Key words: COVID-19, early rehabilitation, pulmonary rehabilitation, intensive care unit