Introduction: The pandemic caused by the Severe acute respiratory syndrome by coronavirus
2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been presented as a one of the greatest health challenges on a global
scale at the beginning of this millennium. Many patients need physical therapy in their
recovery process. A paucity of prognostic studies in patients with long-COVID shows the
need to identify the main repercussions on functional capacity in the short and medium
term. In this regard, the evaluation of lung function, lung structure and functional
capacity in long-COVID patients is essential to estimate the impact of the disease.

Objective: The present study aims to compare functional capacity, lung function, and lung
ultrasound findings between patients diagnosed with long-COVID who underwent physical
therapy to those who did not.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study with quantitative data analysis. The
study will be carried out at the Pulmonary Function Laboratory of the Policlínica
Universitária Piquet Carneiro, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. First, a
clinical evaluation will be performed. In the survey, it will be asked whether the
patient had undergone physical therapy treatment, so they can be allocated in the control
or intervention group. After that, they will answer to the Post-COVID-19 Functional
Status Scale (PCFS), a tool to measure functional status over time after COVID-19. Then,
patients will have their lung function evaluated through spirometry and impulse
oscillometry (IOS). In addition, lung ultrasound (LUS) images will be analyzed. And their
functional capacity will be assessed using the six-minute walk test (6MWT) coupled to
pulmonary ventilation measurement using Spiropalm® (Spiropalm 6MWT, Cosmed, Rome, Italy).

It is expected that understanding the consequences of long-COVID on pulmonary ventilation
can help to design therapeutic strategies in rehabilitation services.