Effects of physical rehabilitation interventions on exercise performance, dyspnea, and health-related quality of life in acute and post-acute COVID-19 patients: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

ObjectiveTo analyze the published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the effects of physical rehabilitation interventions provided directly (face to face) and by telerehabilitation on exercise performance, dyspnea, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in acute and post-acute COVID-19 patients.MethodsFor this systematic review and meta-analysis, different electronic databases were searched up to January 2023. Mean difference (MD), (standardized mean difference (SMD) were calculated.Results34 studies (2214 patients) met the study criteria. Physical interventions may improve aerobic capacity in acute COVID-19 (SMD 1.7; 95% CI 0.37, 2.8) and in post-acute COVID-19 participants (MD 0.4; 95% CI 0.1, 07) compared to usual care for acute and pos-acute COVID-19 patients, respectively. Physical interventions may also improve dyspnea in acute (SMD -1.4; 95% CI -0.8, -0.01) and in post-acute COVID-19 participants (MD -0.4; 95% CI -0.7, -0.2) compared to usual care. Physical interventions may result in an improvement in HRQoL (physical domain) (SMD 0.6; 95% CI 0.3) in post-acute COVID-19 participants compared to usual care in pos-acute COVID-19 patients.DiscussionThe results support that physical rehabilitation interventions improve aerobic capacity and dyspnea in acute and post-COVID-19 patients. Moreover, physical interventions improve physical domain in HRQoL.