With more than 246 million people diagnosed with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) around theworld, many of whom have required medical attention for past 23 months, greater emphasisis being placed on post-acute care of COVID-19 survivors. According to recent data,millions of patients who have recovered from acute COVID-19 are experiencing persistentsymptoms, which lead to disability and impaired activities of daily living.Various terms have been used to describe the condition of patients who do not return totheir initial health status to include post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, such aspost-acute COVID syndrome (PACS) and Long COVID.The growing global burden of COVID-19 suggests that the potential effects of Long COVIDin public health are vast even if Long COVID is experienced by a small proportion ofpatients recovering from acute infection.The ability to identify patients at high risk for Long COVID and forecasting medicalresource requirements is of important clinical utility in the present.In view of the large number of people surviving after infection with COVID-19 and thatshould require follow-up, determine which patients are at risk of have Long COVID and whorequire close monitoring is crucial. In this study, therefore, we set out to analyze whattype of patient profile with COVID-19 who, after 12 weeks of having suffered theinfection, experiences the signs and symptoms described by current literature.
It is intended to develop a Cross-sectional Descriptive Observational Study. The
investigation will be carried out following the guidelines of "Strengthening the
Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology" (STROBE).
A registry will be carried out at a multicenter level, in which a physical-functional
evaluation will be carried out. of the patient who has suffered from COVID-19 and whose
signs and symptoms last 12 weeks after its detection. This assessment is carried out by
physiotherapists members of the entire Canarian Autonomous Community. Some quizzes will
be completed with the assistance of a specific evaluator (physiotherapist), while that
others will be self-completion.
In order to avoid bias and try to guarantee the highest methodological quality, prior to
the recruitment, screening and evaluation of the participants, a specific training for
all evaluators (physiotherapists). They will be addressed general theoretical content on
COVID-persistent, justification and development logistics of the proposed study protocol,
and implementation of the battery of evaluation tests.
The study participants will be recruited through non-recruited sampling probabilistic
convenience.
The statistical analysis of the data will be carried out using the statistical software
International Business Machines (IBM) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)
27.
Categorical variables will be summarized using percentages and relative frequencies. The
equality of proportions of the categories will be contrasted with the non-parametric
tests Bi-nominal and Chi-Square (Goodness of fit). To test the possible association
between categorical variables will use the Chi-square test or the exact test Fisher's.
To analyze the possible association between ordinal categorical variables, we will use to
contrast Spearman's correlation coefficient. Numeric variables are summarized with the
mean and standard deviation or by means of the median and the interquartile range,
depending on whether or not the normality condition of the data is met.
To analyze the normality of the samples, the test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov or Shapiro-Wild.
To compare the means of two independent samples, will use the Student's T test or the
non-parametric U-Mann Whitney test, depending on whether or not the data normality
condition.
In the case of means of 3 or more independent samples, will use the one-way ANOVA
procedure or the non-parametric Kruskal Wallis test, depending on whether or not the
normality condition of the data is met. To analyze the possible association between the
numerical variables, the contrast of the coefficient of linear Pearson correlation.
According to the objectives and the associations that could be detected, it will be
possible to use other statistical tools, or propose the construction of mathematical
models predictive. The results will be considered statistically significant if p-value
<0.05.
Other: Evaluation and Education
A functional physical evaluation will be carried out and they will be informed about the
characteristics of their symptoms. After the evaluation, they will be taught a guideline
of exercises and recommendations.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Have been positive for COVID-19 since the declaration of the state of alarm
throughout the Spanish territory to deal with the health emergency situation caused
by COVID-19 (March 14, 2020).
- Symptoms associated with COVID-19 at least after 12 weeks of its detection.
- Adequate cognitive and physical level to understand and perform the tests
evaluation.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Present comorbidities prior to suffering from COVID-19 whose symptoms are resemble
Post-acute COVID-19.
- Fibromyalgia.
- Chronic fatigue.
- Neuromuscular disease.
- Not having signed the informed consent.
- Person undergoing treatment for active cancer.
University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain
Investigator: Anibal Báez, Professor
Contact: +34652077692
anibal.baez@ulpgc.es
Aníbal Báez Suárez, PhD
+34652077692
anibal.baez@ulpgc.es
Aníbal Báez Suárez, PhD, Principal Investigator
University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria