Therapeutic Exercise Protocols for People Recovering After Covid-19: A Tele-Health Approach

ABSTRACT

Post-Covid-19 syndrome occurs in at least half survivors, that claim to suffer from a mild to severe deconditioning syndrome, fatigue, muscle wasting and pain, dizziness, very low tolerance to minimal efforts, depression and anxiety, when they not will suffer from post-critical neurological syndrome and peripheral neuropathies. Telemedicine and telerehabilitation could be decisive solutions to safely take care and follow these patients in the recovery phase, as well as to alleviate the burden of healthcare structures, in order to reach the majority of people and in the presence of the need for social distancing. The study aims at verifying the feasibility and level of users’ satisfaction of a tele-health service that provide therapeutic education protocols for people recovering from Covid-19. An average of 350 accesses per day have been registered on the platform since 31 March to 30 June 2020. 50 people answered the users’ satisfaction questionnaire and declared no side effects and a good effectiveness (median 7.5/10) to manage fatigue and anxiety. Most subjects (66%) were people hospitalized for Covid-9 and discharged home (32,6%,) or exclusively treated at home (27,6%), instead, 11,6% of subjects were still convalescent in hospital. In conclusion, tele-health was appreciated, safe and possibly useful to integrate rehabilitative management of subjects recovering from Covid-19. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.