The Effect of Exercise-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Quality of Life in Recovered COVID-19 Patients; a Quasi-Experimental Study

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a variety of physical and emotionaldisorders, and subsequently lower Quality of Life (QOL). This study aimed to investigate the effect of a 2-weekexercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation on clinical characteristics and QOL of severe COVID-19 patients afterdischarge from intensive care unit (ICU).

In this quasi-experimental study, eligible severe COVID-19cases, who had survived and were discharged from ICU were selected using convenience sampling method.Oxygen Saturation ( SpO2), pulse rate, dyspnea, and QOL were evaluated and compared before and after twoweeks of exercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR).

35 cases with the mean age of 57.86 ± 11.73(18-75) years were studied (51.4% female). The mean SpO2 increased from 90.41 ± 3.97 to 95.11 ± 1.96% aftertwo weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation (p<0.0001). In addition, the mean pulse rate (98.97±16.23 to 88.91±14.03pulse/minute; p<0.001) and the mean dyspnea severity (5.6±1.97 to 3.45±1.97; p<0.0001) decreased after twoweeks of intervention. Besides, the mean total QOL and its dimensions, including general health (p<0.0001),physical status (p<0.0001), emotional status (p = 0.036), and social function (p<0.0001) of patients, had signif-icantly increased after intervention.

Based on the findings of this study, it seems that two-weekexercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation could be effective in increasing the SpO2, decreasing dyspnea andpulse rate, and improving the QOL of patients with severe COVID-19 after discharge from ICU.