IMR Press / RCM / Volume 22 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2202039
Open Access Review
Revisiting pulmonary rehabilitation during COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative review
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1 Department of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, 61421 Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2 Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy Laboratory, Physiotherapy Department, Federal University of Sao Carlos, 13565-905 Sao Carlos, Brazil
3 College of Health sciences, University of Sharjah, 27272 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
*Correspondence: snehildixit83@gmail.com (Snehil Dixit)
Academic Editor: Peter A. McCullough
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2021, 22(2), 315–327; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2202039
Submitted: 1 February 2021 | Revised: 18 May 2021 | Accepted: 19 May 2021 | Published: 30 June 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Utilizing Technology in the COVID 19 era)
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

There has been an apparent association between the risks of complications with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with a history of existing chronic respiratory diseases during the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 poses a severe risk in cardiopulmonary management. Moreover, chronic respiratory diseases may further amplify the risk of morbidity and mortality among the afflicted population in the pandemic era. The present review outlines the importance of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in persons with chronic respiratory diseases (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and Asthma) during the COVID-19 era. In this context, amongst the population with a pre-existing pulmonary diagnosis who have contracted SARS-CoV-2, following initial medical management and acute recovery, exercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) may play a crucial role in long-term management and recovery. The energy conservation techniques will play a pragmatic role in PR of mild to moderate severity cases to counter post-COVID-19 fatigue. Moreover, there is also an urgent need to effectively address post-COVID-19 anxiety and depression, affecting the PR delivery system.

Keywords
COVID
COPD
Asthma
Exercise
Pulmonary rehabilitation
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