ABSTRACT
Background and/or Objectives: Our aim is to retrospectively evaluate the efficacy of our cardiopulmonary phase II hybrid program, which was created as an alternative to traditional, in-person phase II programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hypothesis is that patients who enrolled and completed the hybrid program will demonstrate improvement in cardiopulmonary functional outcomes. Findings from this study will help inform project team members who can maintain or otherwise modify the hybrid program with the support of the PM&R Service Chief. Design(s): Our preliminary analysis included chart review and retrospective comparison of 22 patients' baseline and discharge 6-minute walk tests (6MWT), Duke Activity Status Index (DASI), weight, and exercise time. Pre-and post-rehab data will be compared with paired ttests. Level of significance (alpha) will be set at < 0.05. Additionally, age, sex, referring clinic, and primary/ secondary diagnoses were included for ongoing comparison. Setting(s): Veterans Affairs hospital for in-person appointments and virtual home-based setting for telerehabilitation component. Participant(s): Veterans who enrolled and completed the hybrid program between 9/1/2020-6/31/2021. Intervention(s): Retrospective chart review, interventions not applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s): Pre-and post-rehab functional outcome measures, including the 6-minute walk test and Duke Activity Status Index (DASI), will be compared. Secondary measures include weight change and exercise time following program completion. Result(s): In our preliminary data, 58% of patients demonstrated some level of improvement in the 6MWT. 50% achieved a favorable weight change and 64% showed improvement in the DASI. 100% of patients were able to increase duration of exercise time. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed between pre- and post-rehab exercise tolerance time as well as the DASI. Conclusion(s): If further analyses are consistent with these findings, the results will guide future practice. Preliminary data indicate the hybrid program did not lead to statistically significant improvements in 6MWT or weight but did significantly improve exercise time and activity status level.