Rehabilitation Care at the Time of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Health System Recommendations

Ahmed M Negm; Adrian Salopek; Mashal Zaide; Victoria J Meng; Carlos Prada; Yaping Chang; Preeti Zanwar; Flavia H Santos; Elena Philippou; Emily R Rosario; Julie Faieta; Jason R Falvey; Amit Kumar; Timothy A Reistetter; Vanina Dal Bello-Haas; Jonathan F Bean; Mohit Bhandari; Patricia C Heyn

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2021.781271

Rehabilitation Care at the Time of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Health System Recommendations

Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Jan 4:13:781271. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.781271. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ahmed M Negm^{1

2}, Adrian Salopek³, Mashal Zaide⁴, Victoria J Meng³, Carlos Prada⁵, Yaping Chang⁶, Preeti Zanwar^{7

8}, Flavia H Santos⁹, Elena Philippou^{10

11}, Emily R Rosario¹², Julie Faieta¹³, Jason R Falvey^{14

15}, Amit Kumar¹⁶, Timothy A Reistetter¹⁷, Vanina Dal Bello-Haas², Jonathan F Bean^{18

19}, Mohit Bhandari²⁰, Patricia C Heyn²¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
² School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
³ Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
⁴ Faculty of Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
⁵ Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
⁶ OrthoEvidence Inc., Burlington, ON, Canada.
⁷ Jefferson College of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
⁸ NIA Funded U.S. Network on Life Course and Health Dynamics and Disparities in the 21st Century America, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
⁹ University College Dublin (UCD), Centre for Disability Studies, School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
¹⁰ Department of Life and Health Sciences, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus.
¹¹ Department of Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
¹² Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare, Pomona, CA, United States.
¹³ Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
¹⁴ Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
¹⁵ Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
¹⁶ Center for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States.
¹⁷ Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Professions, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States.
¹⁸ New England Geriatric, Research, Department of PM&R, Harvard Medical School, Education and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States.
¹⁹ Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
²⁰ Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
²¹ Marymount Center for Optimal Aging, School of Health Sciences, Marymount University, Arlington, VA, United States.

Abstract

Purpose: The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 has imposed a significant burden on health care systems, economies, and social systems in many countries around the world. The provision of rehabilitation services for persons with active COVID-19 infection poses challenges to maintaining a safe environment for patients and treating providers. Materials and Methods: Established frameworks were used to guide the scoping review methodology. Medline, Embase, Pubmed, CINAHL databases from inception to August 1, 2020, and prominent rehabilitation organizations' websites were searched. Study Selection: We included articles and reports if they were focused on rehabilitation related recommendations for COVID-19 patients, treating providers, or the general population. Data Extraction: Pairs of team members used a pre-tested data abstraction form to extract data from included full-text articles. The strength and the quality of the extracted recommendations were evaluated by two reviewers using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Results: We retrieved 6,468 citations, of which 2,086 were eligible for review, after duplicates were removed. We excluded 1,980 citations based on title and abstract screening. Of the screened full-text articles, we included all 106 studies. A summary of recommendations is presented. We assessed the overall evidence to be strong and of fair quality. Conclusion: The rehabilitation setting, and processes, logistics, and patient and healthcare provider precaution recommendations identified aim to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection and ensure adequate and safe rehabilitation services, whether face-to-face or through teleservices. The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing. Further updates will be needed over time in order to incorporate emerging best evidence into rehabilitation guidelines.

Keywords: COVID-19; GRADE; SARS-CoV-2; health system; pandemic; rehabilitation; scoping review.

Publication types

Review