PULMONARY REHABILITATION IN THE POST COVID-19 PATIENT; ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE COMMUNITY OF MADRID

Abstract

Introduction: as research progresses, there is a greater knowledge about the therapeutic needs among post-Covid patients, and the benefits of participating in Pulmonary Rehabilitation programs. Since the beginning of the first wave of the pandemic, some hospitals have started to implement Pulmonary Rehabilitation programs. The main objective of the study is to analyze their degree of implementation in hospitals throughout the Autonomous Community of Madrid. Material and method: a descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study is carried out. The set-ting of the study is hospitals in the Community of Madrid, collecting data through an online survey. Results: the physiotherapy treatment of patients with Covid-19 began in March 2020. Currently 100 % of hospitals treat this pa-thology. While 93.1 % perform an individualized approach, 41 % also include group intervention programs following adapted models of Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Telerehabilitation is scarce. There is a high variability within the content of treatment programs. In most of the cases, they are adapted according to patient, performing bronchial drainage and  respiratory re-education in 89.7  %  and 72.4  % respectively. Conclusions: the implementation of post-Covid-19 physiotherapy treatment has become widespread since the beginning of the pandemic. In the com-prehensive assessment of the patient, the most used tests were: 6-minute walk test (85 %); muscle strength test (83 %); Barthel scale (70 %); cognitive alterations test (63 %), anxiety and depression test (60 %). It is suggested that new lines of research in relation to telerehabilitation need to be promoted as a way to improve patient accessibility and continuity of care.