Rehabilitación pulmonar en pacientes post-COVID-19 en el Hospital de Especialidades Teodoro Maldonado Carbo en el periodo 2020-2022.

Abstract

Introduction: Dyspnea and poor quality of life often occur in patients with long COVID. The objective of this study is to measure the decrease in the severity of dyspnea and better quality of life after completing a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Methodology: A longitudinal, observational, retrospective and analytical study was carried out, the database of the pulmonary rehabilitation area of the Teodoro Maldonado Carbo Hospital was used, 3 tools were applied: The mMRC and BORG dyspnea scales, and a health questionnaire SF-36, which allow evaluating dyspnea and quality of life before and after the program. Of the total number of patients, dyspnea was evaluated in 51 and quality of life in 31. Results: Male sex predominated (52%). Improvement in dyspnea was observed, patients with more severe dyspnea decreased from 27% to 9% on the mMRC scale and from 8% to 0% on the Borg scale at the end of the program. In the SF-36 health questionnaire, a significant improvement was evident in 7 dimensions: Physical functioning, physical role, bodily pain, social functioning, mental health; as well as the health transition report. Conclusions: The results obtained are a favorable contribution regarding the fact that the pulmonary rehabilitation program has a positive impact on the recovery of patients with long COVID, as evidenced by the decrease in the severity of dyspnea as well as the improvement in the quality of life of patients who completed the rehabilitation program.