An update of the literature about rehabilitation tools used in the treatment of COVID-19-related disabilities: a systematic review of literature.

Abstract

Introduction: The role of rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 pandemia was influenced by the progressive acquisition of knowledge on the pathology with the adaptation of the rehabilitative instruments to the heterogeneous impairments of the patients. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the effects of the rehabilitation tools applied in the last three years in the different phases of the COVID-19 disease.

Evidence acquisition: A literature search of MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) was conducted. 2994 participants were included in this systematic review: 1225 patients for acute-COVID, 1331 patients for post-COVID, 438 patients for long-COVID.

Evidence synthesis: Of the initial 907 hits only 45 randomized controlled trials were included. The Cochrane library assessment tool was used to evaluate the risk of bias. The trials selected studied the effects of respiratory rehabilitation alone or in association with exercises, tele-rehabilitation, endurance training, virtual reality, electrostimulations in different settings and phases of the infection with the evaluation of clinical, quality of life and impairment outcome measures.

Conclusions: All the rehabilitations tool were used based on the experts' opinion and on the rules of good clinical practice, during and after the pandemic period. Despite the heterogeneity of the studies, the different outcome measures and the small sample sizes, pulmonary rehabilitation, tele-rehabilitation and low/moderate intensity aerobic and endurance exercises seemed to improve clinical and quality of life outcomes at short (8 weeks) and mean time (2 months) after treatments in all phases of the infection.