COVID Rehab

Millions of individuals will have persistent symptoms following an acute COVID-19 infection requiring post COVID-19 rehabilitation. Common symptoms include fatigue, decreased activity tolerance, cognitive dysfunction (brain fog), shortness of breath, and pain. This leads to decreased ability to complete activities of daily living, return to work or school and affects quality of life.

There are many terms for post COVID-19 condition including long COVID (proposed by patients in May 2020) and post acute sequelae of COVID-19, also known as PASC. The World Health Organization created a clinical case definition in October 2021.

Ongoing research includes assessing risk factors to determine who might develop post COVID- 19 condition. Vaccinations reduce the risk of developing post COVID-19 condition to some degree, and reduces the duration of symptoms. However, even without risk factors, individuals can develop post COVID-19 condition. The primary preventative strategy remains minimizing risk of acquiring the initial infection.

In this episode, we discuss up to date evidence for post COVID-19 condition rehabilitation.
 
Guest: Dr. Simon Decary (https://twitter.com/simondecary)

Additional Resources:

World Health Organization Clinical management of COVID-19: Living guideline (including post COVID rehab)

CADTH Post COVID-19 Condition Treatment and Management Rapid Living Scoping Review

Scoping review of rehabilitation care models for post COVID-19 condition

https://longcovid.physio