Date of Award
3-7-2025
Thesis Type
Masters
Document Type
Dissertation
Divisions
Faculty of Medicine
Department
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
Institution
Universiti Malaya
Abstract
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a contagious infectious disease which has been shown to affect patients in many ways. Patients may suffer from various degree of respiratory, physical, psychological and generalized systemic dysfunction leading to significant ongoing symptoms. It is shown that these patients may have persistent symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, decreased functional capacity, and decreased quality of life which can last up to six months after being infected. Therefore, pulmonary rehabilitation is crucial and should be introduced to avoid further deconditioning once the patient is discharged home. This study is design to assess the feasibility of an outpatient pulmonary exercise training program (OPETP) prescribed as part of a multidisciplinary post COVID-19 pulmonary rehabilitation. The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of a ten week OPETP in a government funded teaching hospital and its effects on physical endurance, dyspnoea, quality of life and functional sequalae. All symptomatic patients were referred from the multidisciplinary COVID-19 clinic for pulmonary rehabilitation. Patients were recruited between January and December 2022 according to the eligibility criteria into an exercise training conducted in the outpatient Physiotherapy Unit consisting of one supervised session and four unsupervised sessions weekly. The exercise training comprises of aerobic exercises, dynamic resistance exercises, patient education and home exercise throughout the program. Feasibility of the OPETP was assessed in terms of the recruitment rate (turn-up, show-up and no-show), adherence and tolerability. The effects were evaluated by the changes on exercise capacity (Six-Minute Walk Test [6MWT]), dyspnoea (Baseline Dyspnoea Index/Transition Dyspnoea Index [BDI/TDI] and Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnoea Scale [mMRC]), quality of life (Short Form Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire [SF- CRQ]) and functional sequalae (Post COVID-19 Functional Status scale [PCFS]). A total of 118 post-COVID-19 patients were referred for OPETP, but only 74 (63%) turned-up for an appointment. Of this, 46 (62%) attended baseline assessment, 13 (28%) completed the OPETP within three months, 19 (41%) completed OPETP over an extended duration, and 14 (30%) dropped out. About 27 subjects (66%) tolerated the pre-planned training regimen. Those who completed OPETP (n=32), Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed significant changes in 6MWT, mMRC dyspnoea scale, SF-CRQ and PCFS (all p < 0.05). Therefore, OPETP is feasible in symptomatic post-COVID-19 patients. It also improves symptoms, quality of life and functional capability.
Additional Information
Dissertation (M.A.) – Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 2025.
Recommended Citation
Manjit Singh, Anmol Kaur, "A feasibility study of an exercise programme for post Covid-19 patients" (2025). Student Works (2020-2029). 1989.
https://knova.um.edu.my/student_works_2020s/1989
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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