ORIGINAL ARTICLE   Free access

European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2022 August;58(4):606-11

DOI: 10.23736/S1973-9087.21.07054-4

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Poor walking ability outcome and activities of daily living improvement in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation during COVID-19 pandemic

Yoichiro AOYAGI ^{1, 2} ✉, Etsuko MORI ³, Hideki ISHII ⁴, Yuji KONO ³, Ayako SATO ³, Yuki OKOCHI ³, Reisuke FUNAHASHI ², Hitoshi KAGAYA ²

¹ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan; ² Department of Rehabilitation Medicine I, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan; ³ Faculty of Rehabilitation, Fujita Health Bantane University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan; ⁴ Department of Cardiology, Fujita Health Bantane University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging impacts across international healthcare systems and direct impacts on rehabilitation professionals. Few outcome data for cardiac patients undergoing rehabilitation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic are available.
AIM: We conducted a study to compare the effect of modified rehabilitation therapies mainly performed in wards versus conventional therapies mainly performed in rehabilitation units in which exercise on a treadmill and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were available.
DESIGN: Observational study.
SETTING: University hospital.
POPULATION: Fifty-five consecutive inpatients admitted to a university hospital and underwent a cardiac rehabilitation program from August 2019 to June 2020.
METHODS: The patients were divided into two groups: those admitted during the COVID-19 outbreak (Group A, N.=28) and those admitted before the COVID-19 outbreak (Group B, N.=27). The evaluation included age, sex, duration of the rehabilitation intervention program, days before initiation of the rehabilitation program, functional status, and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) Score.
RESULTS: A higher proportion of patients in Group A than B underwent a cardiac rehabilitation program provided in wards (88.5% vs. 48.8%, respectively). Group A showed a significantly lower 6-minute walking distance and walking speed than Group B at discharge (P=0.031 and 0.014, respectively). Group A showed a significantly shorter exercise time using an ergometer than Group B (P=0.028).
CONCLUSIONS: The difference in the cardiac rehabilitation location during the COVID-19 pandemic may affect the rehabilitation contents and lead to less improvement in physical function.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: A cardiac rehabilitation program was performed mainly in wards instead of in rehabilitation units during the COVID-19 pandemic. Walking abilities were adversely affected by the modified cardiac rehabilitation program.

KEY WORDS: Rehabilitation; Exercise; Heart failure