Effect of short-duration, limited rehabilitation on maintenance of the activities of daily living in patients with acute phase of COVID-19.
Yusuke Tamamura, Hajime Yoshikawa, Michiko Matsuura and 4 others
PMID 35400829WHAT IT FOUND
Inpatients who received about 20 minutes of bedside rehabilitation daily during isolation maintained their daily living scores, while those transferred to acute care without rehabilitation declined significantly.
Baseline nutrition and doing self-training at home were the strongest factors linked to better function.
Key findings
01Patients who stayed in the ward and received limited rehabilitation had significantly smaller declines in Functional Independence Measure scores than those transferred to acute care without rehabilitation.
02There was no significant difference in daily living scores between patients who tested negative but were in close contact and those who tested positive, provided both received the same limited rehabilitation.
03Baseline nutritional status and the implementation of customized self-training were independently associated with better functional scores after the infection was controlled.
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 was conducted at a single center with a small number of patients, particularly in the transferred group (n=7). The groups were not randomized; patients were classified based on their clinical course and infection status, which introduces selection bias. The transferred group had older patients and a higher prevalence of fractures, which may have contributed to their worse outcomes independently of the lack of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation intensity and duration varied between patients based on their daily symptoms, making it difficult to isolate the effect of the rehabilitation program itself from the effect of remaining in a rehabilitation environment.
Declared interests
All authors declare no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that 20 minutes of therapy alone prevents functional decline. The study compares patients who received therapy in a rehabilitation ward against those who were transferred to acute care and received no therapy. The worse outcomes in the transferred group may be due to their more severe illness, older age, and lack of any rehabilitation environment, not just the absence of the specific 20-minute intervention.