Functional outcome after interdisciplinary, acute rehabilitation in COVID-19 patients: a retrospective study

• Published in: European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience 2024-12, Vol.274 (8), p.1993-2001
• Main Authors: Elmer, Nancy, Reißhauer, Anett, Brehm, Katharina, Drebinger, Daniel, Schaller, Stefan J., Schwedtke, Christine, Liebl, Max E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Clinical trials; Complications; COVID-19; COVID-19 - rehabilitation; Female; Humans; Interdisciplinary aspects; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Mobility; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Oxygen; Patients; Psychiatry; Recovery of Function - physiology; Registration; Rehabilitation; Retrospective Studies; Sepsis; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0940-1334; 1433-8491; 1433-8491
• DOI: 10.1007/s00406-024-01862-4

Background Survivors of severe COVID-19 often exhibit a variety of sequelae including loss of mobility and ADL (activities of daily living) capacity. Acute rehabilitation (AR) is an interdisciplinary rehabilitation intervention applied early while still in a hospital setting. The goal of AR is to improve functional limitations and to increase functional independence at discharge. It is established in the treatment of patients with other severe diseases such as sepsis, polytrauma, or stroke. Data concerning AR in COVID-19 are sparse. Aim To evaluate the changes in physical function during AR in patients after severe COVID-19. Methods This monocentric, retrospective observational study examined the functional outcomes of a sample of COVID-19-patients who received interdisciplinary AR at a university hospital. Inclusion criteria were a positive SARS-CoV-2 test in 05/2020–01/2022 and transfer to AR after intensive care treatment. 87 patients were elegible for evaluation, 3 of whom were excluded because of death during AR. Data were extracted from the hospital information system. In a pre-post analysis, mobility (Charité Mobility Index), ADL (Barthel Index), and oxygen demand were assessed. In addition, discharge location after AR, factors associated with AR unit length of stay, and functional improvements were analyzed. Results Data of 84 patients were analyzed. Mobility increased significantly from a median of 4 [1.25-6] CHARMI points at admission to a median of 9 [8.25-9] at discharge ( p