Impact of early physical rehabilitation in the intensive care unit on functional status and length of hospitalization of COVID-19 patients

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in hospital admissions to Intensive Care Units (ICUs), primarily due to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Early physi­cal rehabilitation interventions may improve patients' functional status and reduce the length of their stay in the ICU. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the intensity of early physical rehabilitation on the functional status and length of hospitalization of COVID-19 patients. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to the ICU with ARDS caused by COVID-19 from October 2020 to March 2021. Research included 102 patients, who were divided into two groups based on the number of rehabilitation sessions per day. We compared the effects of one and two physical rehabilitation sessions on patients' physical functional status, their length of stay in ICU and overall duration of hospitalization. At the time of discharge, the group with two rehabilitation sessions showed a trend toward better functional outcomes compared to the group with one session. The duration of stay in the ICU for the group with one rehabilitation session per day was (9.35±5.66) days, while for the group with two sessions, it was (8.51±5.64) days. The total duration of hospitalization was (13.84±7.19) days for the group with intensive rehabilitation, compared to (15.98±7.78) days for the other group. This study provides preliminary evidence that two daily rehabilitation sessions for ICU patients with ARDS due to COVID-19 may improve functional outcomes and reduce the length of hospitalization compared to one session. These results underscore the potential benefits of early, intensive rehabilitation for critically ill patients and suggest that increasing the intensity of rehabilitation could be an effective strategy for improving recovery and reducing healthcare resource utilization. Despite the study found encouraging results, it calls for further prospective randomized controlled trials to confirm these findings. Keywords: patient mobilization, early activation of patients, intensive care unit, post-COVID syndrome.