Objective: To examine the impact of telerehabilitation training on exercise capacity, lung function, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in comparison to no rehabilitation for post-COVID-19 symptoms in adult females.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial of 48 females after mild to moderate COVID-19 survival were equally and randomly assigned to one of two groups: intervention group or control group. Three sessions per week for 6 weeks of a telerehabilitation program provided via a smartphone to the intervention group. Spirometry was used to quantify lung function, a 6-minute walk test (6MWT) measured in meters to measure exercise capacity, and the Short Form Health Survey-36 was used to assess HRQOL.
Results: After treatment, there was no statistically significant difference in forced vital capacity (FVC) or forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) between groups (p>0.05), but the 6MWT of the intervention group increased significantly more than that of the control group (p=0.001). The percent of change in 6MWT for the intervention group and control group was 14.22% and 4.21%, respectively. After therapy, the intervention group's HRQOL significantly improved when compared to the control group's (p=0.001).
Conclusion: This study showed that a telerehabilitation programs improved exercise capacity and HRQOL in young females post-COVID-19 compared to no rehabilitation.
Keywords: COVID-19; Exercise capacity; Pulmonary rehabilitation; Quality of life; Telerehabilitation.