Physical therapy after COVID-19 led to lower incidence of mortality
Compared with those who did not have physical therapy, patients with COVID-19 who did had lower odds of mortality, despite being older and having more comorbidities and lower mobility on admission, according to results.
“What this study suggests is we should start [physical therapy] early,” Anne F. Ambrose, MD, MS, director of research in the department of rehabilitation medicine at Montefiore Health System, told Healio Orthopedics. “Make that part of the treatment earlier, and we might be able to change course on how well this patient is going to do.”
Ambrose and colleagues categorized 1,314 patients admitted for COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020, into groups based on whether they received physical therapy. Researchers collected demographic data, code status, comorbidities, intubation status, length of hospital stay and data on disposition and mortality, and compared mortality incidence between the groups.
Preliminary results presented at the Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting showed patients who received physical therapy tended to be older, had more comorbidities and a lower level of physical function prior to hospitalization compared with patients who did not receive physical therapy. Researchers assessed prior level of function and found 48% of patients in the physical therapy group and 74% of patients in the non-physical therapy group were independent. However, patients in both groups had similar rates of intubation, according to results.
Despite being at a lower level of function before contracting COVID-19 and having higher rates of hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, patients who received physical therapy had a lower rate of mortality at 12% vs. 25% in the non-physical therapy group.
“When we adjusted for age, underlying illnesses and function ... we found that if you received therapy, you did better,” Ambrose said. “Even though you might have been a sicker person and you were older and the person that we would have thought would have a higher rate of mortality, it did not happen. If you had therapy, your rates were better.”
Reference:
Collapse
Ambrose AF, et al. Impact of physical therapy on the mortality rate among COVID-19 patients. Presented at: Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting; Feb. 9-13, 2021 (virtual meeting).
Read more about