Early Physical Therapist Interventions for Patients With COVID-19 in the Acute Care Hospital: A Case Report Series.
Sabrina Eggmann, Angela Kindler, Andrea Perren and 7 others
PMID 33492400WHAT IT FOUND
Physical therapists managed severe instability by moving patients very slowly and stopping exercises before coughing triggered oxygen drops.
Anxiety worsened breathlessness, requiring active listening and education alongside movement. Family video calls helped reorient delirious patients when visits were banned.
Key findings
01Rapid position changes or deep breathing often triggered coughing and oxygen desaturation, requiring therapists to move patients slowly and stop exercises before the need to cough arose.
02Anxiety and fear of dying aggravated dyspnea in one patient, and addressing this through education and breathing exercises helped reduce respiratory rate and increase oxygen saturation.
03Video telephony allowed a delirious patient to communicate with family, which improved his sense of security and participation in rehabilitation when physical visits were restricted.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is a case series with no control group, so it cannot prove that the interventions caused the improvements. Cases were selected retrospectively to represent a spectrum of symptoms, which may not reflect the typical patient population. Different hospitals used different outcome measures, making comparisons between cases difficult. The report only covers the acute hospital phase and provides no data on long-term recovery. The pandemic environment may have influenced care delivery and data collection in ways not fully described.
Declared interests
The authors state that the local ethics committees waived the need for approval. There is no explicit mention of funding sources or conflicts of interest in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the improvements in oxygen saturation or function as proof that specific exercises work. These are single cases with highly variable and unstable conditions, and the authors explicitly state that the report does not prove efficacy.