Functional Outcomes and Symptomatic Changes in Post-Acute COVID-19 Patients

Research Objectives: To track objective functional and subjective symptomatic changes in patients with post-acute COVID-19

Design: Observational study using descriptive statistics

Setting: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Outpatient Clinic
Post-acute covid patients establishing care at initial visit followed by 3 month follow-up

Participants: Male and female veterans greater than 18 years of age with confirmed COVID diagnosis suffering from post-acute sequelae of COVID-19

Interventions: N/A

Main Outcome Measures: 2 minutes step test (2MST), 30 second sit-to-stand test (30STS), Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMIS), Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (MMRC)

Results: Comparing the initial visit to 3-month follow-up, participants demonstrated an improved average 2MST (67 from 48) and 30STS (16 from 8). PROMIS was relatively similar (25 from 23) as well as MMRC (1.7 from 2.2).

Conclusions: Post-acute COVID-19 patients require long-term medical care, as residual deficits persist even after a course of inpatient rehabilitation, which has been shown to improve function to comparable levels as patients without COVID. Post-COVID clinics may be beneficial to track functional outcomes and subjective health perception to better serve the growing population of post-acute sequelae patients. Our data demonstrate improvement in objective measures despite equivocal changes in patient’s perception of overall health. Data are limited as at baseline, 61 participants were assessed. At 3-month follow-up, only 11 participants completed assessments. Additionally, of those who completed the assessment, some participants did not complete the 2MST or 30STS. This lost to follow-up and incomplete information may underscore the need to better monitor these patients, who may also be suffering from symptoms, such as cognitive issues, that hinder them from completing the follow-up assessments. Another limitation is that baseline clinic assessment was not at initial COVID diagnosis, which means each patient was likely at different stages of recovery.

Author(s) Disclosures: No conflicts