Effects of physical rehabilitation interventions in COVID-19 patients following discharge from hospital: A systematic review

Background: Hospitalized patients recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may experience disability and suffer from significant physical and mental impairment requiring physical rehabilitation following their discharge. However, to date, no attempt has been made to collate and synthesize litera-ture in this area.Objective: This systematic review examines the outcomes of different physical rehabilitation interven-tions tested in COVID-19 patients who were discharged from hospital. Search strategy: A systematic search of MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and medRxiv was conducted to identify articles published up to March 2022. Inclusion criteria: This systematic review included studies of outpatient rehabilitation programs for peo-ple recovering from COVID-19 who received physical activity, exercise, or breathing training to enhance or restore functional capacity, pulmonary function, quality of life, and mental health or function. Data extraction and analysis: Selection of included articles, data extraction, and methodological quality assessments were conducted by two review authors respectively, and consensus was reached through discussion and consultation with a third reviewer. Finally, we review the outcomes of studies based on four categories including: (1) functional capacity, (2) pulmonary function, (3) quality of life, and (4) men-tal health status.Results: A total of 7534 titles and abstracts were screened; 10 cohort studies, 4 randomized controlled trials and 13 other prospective studies involving 1583 patients were included in our review. Early phys-ical rehabilitation interventions applied in COVID-19 patients who were discharged from the hospital improved multiple parameters related to functional capacity, pulmonary function, quality of life and mental health status.Conclusion: Physical rehabilitation interventions may be safe, feasible and effective in COVID-19 patients discharged from the hospital, and can improve a variety of clinically relevant outcomes. Further studies are warranted to determine the underlying mechanisms. Please cite this article as: Rahmati M, Molanouri Shamsi M, Woo W, Koyanagi A, Won Lee S, Keon Yon D, Shin JI, Smith L. Effects of physical rehabilitation interventions in COVID-19 patients following discharge from hospital: A systematic review. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(2): 149-158.(c) 2023 Shanghai Yueyang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. All rights reserved.