Introduction: Functional status of pulmonary patients seems to be one of the biggest influencer factors of symptom evolution, influencing hospital length of stay after a disease outbreak. The HandGrip Strength (HGS) has been proposed as an indicator of functional status, being an easy and non-invasive method and presenting high reliability among evaluators.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the impact of poor functional status on hospital length of stay and symptom severity after suffering a pulmonary thromboembolism.

Patients and methods: A total of 64 patients who suffer pulmonary thromboembolism between December 2022 and February 2023 were included. Patients were stratified into two groups according to handgrip strength (<37 male/<21 female: poor functional status, >37 male/>21 female: good functional status). The severity of the symptom was evaluated with a Numeric Rating Scale (0-10) during the hospital stay.

Results: A total of 74 pulmonary thromboembolism patients were included in this study, 48 presented a poor functional state, and 26 presented a good functional state. The mean stay of the group with a good functional state was 6,11±0,9 days, and the mean stay of the group with a poor functional state was 5,63±2,25 days, presenting a significant difference between groups (p=0,002). Symptom severity presented significant differences for dyspnoea (p<0,001) and pain (p=0,034). Cough and fatigue didnŽt present significant differences (p=0.5; p=0.46 respectively).

Conclusions: Handgrip strength could be an independent predictive factor of hospital length of stay and symptom severity after suffering pulmonary thromboembolism, especially for dyspnoea and pain.