Impact of a pulmonary rehabilitation program on social disadvantage and physical activity data of postCOVID19 patients: A North-African pilot study

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN

• In post-acute COVID19, many patients still manifest symptoms for weeks and months.
• Psychological manifestations are prevalent and persisting in recovered COVID19 patients.
• Indeed, COVID19 was reported to possibly lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety, and to alter health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
• Physical activity has been proven to be effective in improving both mental and physical health.
• Thus, COVID19 patients could benefit from pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP).
• Many studies related the effects of a standard PRP on physical activity and HRQoL in post COVID19 patients. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study evaluated the physical activity and social disadvantage of patients who were hospitalized for COVID19 in a low income country.
• This paper is the second part of a cross sectional study that aimed to evaluate the impact of a PRP on social disadvantage (physical activity, hospital anxiety and depression (HAD), HRQoL) data of Tunisian patients with postCOVID19.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

• The present North African study demonstrated that a PRP improved HRQoL, HAD, and physical activity data of Tunisian COVID19 patients.
• For instance, the means of the functional, psychological and relation dimensions, and the VQ11 total score (ie; main outcome) decreased significantly by 1.79, 2.00, 1.57, and 5.36 points. In addition, the means of the HAD anxiety and depression scores decreased significantly by 2.07, and 2.57 points, respectively, and the means of the physical activity and total scores improved significantly by 1.75 and 1.78 points, respectively.
• To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first African and Arab study investigating the impact of a PRP on postcovid19 patients in terms of social disadvantages and physical activity.
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• This study confirms that an outpatient PRP program improves physical activity, psychological status and HRQoL in the management of postCOVID19 patients.