AIMS and OBJECTIVES: Persistent, troublesome symptoms many months following a COVID-19 infection are common. The post-acute COVID-19 syndrome includes a variety of symptom clusters however for many patients respiratory symptoms and fatigue dominate. There are emerging reports of the beneficial role of Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) in managing patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. Data on the longer term outcomes after PR remain scarce. We aimed to evaluate six-month outcomes following comprehensive PR in individuals with persistent symptoms post COVID-19 infection.

METHODS: Demographic data along with pre, post and six-months post-PR outcome measures including 6-minute walk test distance (6MWD), hand grip strength (HGS), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Assessment Tool (CAT) and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) scores, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Post-COVID-19 Functional Scale (PCFS) were collected prospectively from individuals enrolled in post-COVID-19 PR.

RESULTS: A group of 100 individuals completed an 8-week outpatient PR programme, 48 of whom underwent an additional assessment six-month post-PR completion. Of these, 50% were male, mean age was 54 years. Clinically significant improvements were observed on PR completion in 6MWD (+108m), bilateral HGS, CAT (-6) and SGRQ scores (-10), the HADS (-3) and PCFS (-0.9). These improvements were maintained at six-month follow-up. P values <0.01.

CONCLUSIONS: Clinically significant improvements seen immediately post PR were maintained at six-month follow up in 6MWD, HGS, CAT, SGRQ and HADS scores and PCFS, supporting the beneficial role of PR in patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.