Effectiveness of Home Respiratory Rehabilitation in Long COVID – A Case Study

Abstract

Introduction: In most of the severe cases of COVID-19, important symptoms and comorbidities were identified up to 6 months after hospital discharge. These are designated as Long COVID. In order to reduce symptoms, improve aerobic and functional capacity and the quality of life of these users, respiratory rehabilitation is suggested. However, due to the saturation of existing services and/or long waiting lists, it can be carried out in a home context. Objectives: Verify the respiratory rehabilitation effect in a home context, with a user with Long Covid. Material and methods: Application of a respiratory rehabilitation program, for 12 weeks in home context to a user with Long COVID, consisting of aerobic exercises, muscle strengthening, breathing exercises and therapeutic education. In order to understand the impact of this program, dyspnea, anxiety and depression, functional capacity, aerobic capacity and quality of life were evaluated at three moments of the program: initial (S0), intermediate (S6) and final (S12). Results: In S6 and S12, improvements in quality of life were found (total – 81.5/56.8/26.2%; symptoms – 85.7/47.4/33.5%; activities – 92.5 /66.3/42.4%; impact – 73.8/54.4/14.6%), indicators of anxiety and depression (A – 13/19/7; D – 12/17/5), dyspnea (mMRC – 4/2/1; BMS (eating/drinking – 4/2/0.5), aerobic capacity (distance 107/194/267m; final dyspnea 8/6/4) and functional capacity (9/11/14 repetitions). Conclusions: Respiratory rehabilitation applied in home context appears to have a positive impact on the user under study, as he showed improvements in of quality of life, anxiety and depression, dyspnea, aerobic capacity and functional capacity.