Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multisystem rehabilitationprogram for Long Covid patients in two different settings.Design: Randomized controlled trial. Settings: Health resort and home-based.Participants: 72 Long Covid patients. Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned intotwo groups: Group A (n=36) received health resort intervention, and Group B (n=36)received home-based care. Both groups underwent a 5-week rehabilitation program,involving motor, respiratory, and cognitive exercises, two sessions per week.Outcomes: Assessments were conducted before (T0) and after treatment (T1), at 3 (T2) and6 months (T3), including respiratory and physical function, handgrip strength, fatigue,pain, quality of life, psychological function, and satisfaction.
At the outpatient clinics of the Neurorehabilitation Unit of the University Hospital of
Padua, 103 patients were initially assessed. Out of these patients, 72 subjects of both
genders with medium-to-long-term outcomes following previous infection with the
SARS-CoV-2 virus were recruited for this study. Eight patients were excluded from the
study due to initial assessments revealing conditions falling under exclusion criteria (1
patient lacked a prior diagnosis with a COVID-19 infection swab, 2 had concurrent tumor
pathologies, 3 exhibited systemic inflammation, and 2 had skin infections), and 23
patients chose to undergo a rehabilitation program at a rehabilitative gym instead.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of two rehabilitation treatment groups: the
group treated at a health resort facility (Group A, n=36) and the group performing the
exercise program at home (Group B, n=36). However, 6 patients did not complete follow-up
assessments at different time points, resulting in the final evaluation of data collected
from 66 patients, with 33 allocated to Group A and 33 to Group B (Fig. 1).
The patient enrollment was conducted between January 2023 and April 2023. Patients in
group A underwent a 5-week rehabilitation cycle with two weekly sessions, totaling 10
sessions, in a health resort setting. The patients underwent treatments at two health
resort facilities located in the Euganean Basin, Veneto, Italy, equipped with pools of
the same depth, size, and water type. Patients in group B underwent a 5-week
rehabilitation cycle at home with two weekly sessions, totaling 10 sessions.
At the beginning (T0) and at the end (T1) of the treatment, and during two subsequent
follow-up times at 3 months (T2) and 6 months (T3), after the end of the treatment,
patients in both groups were evaluated.
Behavioral: Multi-systemic Rehabilitation
Patients in group A underwent a 5-week rehabilitation cycle with two weekly sessions,
totaling 10 sessions, in a health resort setting. The patients underwent treatments at
two health resort facilities located in the Euganean Basin, Veneto, Italy, equipped with
pools of the same depth, size, and water type. Each session was structured into four
components:
1. thermal mineral-rich aerosol therapy (10 minutes);
2. dryland motor, respiratory, and proprioceptive rehabilitation in the gym (30
minutes);
3. mineral-rich aquatic aerobic, strengthening, and balance exercises (30 minutes);
4. cognitive enhancement interventions (30 minutes). Inhalation treatments and aquatic
exercises utilized thermal mineral-rich water, specifically salsobromoiodic water,
naturally springing at approximately 80°C and used in pools at a temperature of
around 36°C. The chemical-physical properties of the thermal mineral-rich water
employed are reported in Table I.
Patients in group B underwent a 5-week rehabilit
The inclusion criteria for the study included the following requirements: age between 18
and 75 years; a previous COVID-19 infection occurring between 6 and 18 months before our
initial assessment; negative results in tests for the nucleic acid of the SARS-CoV-2
virus conducted on respiratory samples, such as oropharyngeal swabs; body temperature ≤
37°C; presence of reduced cardio-respiratory capacity and/or motor deficits caused by the
SARS-CoV-2 virus infection; manifestation of possible cognitive symptoms that could not
be attributed to other conditions; no participation in cycles of thermal mineral-rich
therapy in the six months preceding the study.
Exclusion criteria from the study included: inability to understand and sign the informed
consent form; absence of a previous positive detection of nucleic acid of the SARS-CoV-2
virus in tests on respiratory samples; current positivity for the nucleic acid of the
SARS-CoV-2 virus in respiratory samples; epilepsy, severe psychiatric disorders,
neoplasms, or pregnancy. Moreover, commonly recognized contraindications for health
resort treatments, such as skin infections or open wounds, systemic inflammation, heart,
liver, respiratory, or kidney failure, and urinary or fecal incontinence, were considered
additional exclusion criteria.
Universityof Padua
Padua 3171728, Italy
Not Provided