Rehabilitation improves post-Covid-19 sequalae regardless of time, age, gender, or disease severity

<bold>INTRODUCTION:</bold> Respiratory rehabilitation improves post-COVID-19 symptoms. However, it has not been clarified in which patients and when it should be implemented to maximize benefits. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether implementing a supervised rehabilitation program in a mixed population of post-COVID-19 patients with varying degrees of prior disease severity and timing of recruitment could limit post-COVID-19 impairment. <bold>METHODS:</bold> This was a non-randomised case-control study. 119 patients with post-COVID-19 sequalae were enrolled. Among study participants, those who could attend an 8-week, supervised rehabilitation programme comprised the intervention group (n=47), whereas those who couldn’t the control group (n=72). Patient evaluation was conducted at study enrollment (baseline) and after 8 weeks of either rehabilitation or usual care (control). Patient improvement was assessed with tests that measured physical function, symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental health. Thresholds of impairment or improvement were pre-specified for each test. <bold>RESULTS:</bold> Results are detailed in the table. <bold>CONCLUSIONS:</bold> Post-COVID-19 rehabilitation is associated with improvements in physical function, activity, HRQoL, respiratory symptoms, fatigue and cognitive impairment, independently of timing of rehabilitation, age, gender, prior hospitalisation and ICU admission. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA4113/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>