Effects of a pulmonary rehabilitation program on pulmonary function, exercise performance, and quality of life in patients with severe COVID-19.

Background: Severe coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) causes acute hypoxemic respiratory failure requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Once these symptoms are resolved, patients can present systemic deterioration.

Objective: The two objectives of this study were as follows: to describe the results of a pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP), which is divided into three groups with different numbers of sessions (12, 24, and 36), and to associate the variables of pulmonary function, exercise performance, and functionality with the number of sessions and functional improvement.

A pulmonary rehabilitation program is an effective strategy to improve forced vital capacity, muscle strength, and functional exercise capacity similarly in adults and older people with post-severe COVID-19 who required mechanical ventilation.

Background: It is internationally known that our population is aging. At the same time, some patients with COVID-19, due to their symptoms, required mechanical ventilation (MV) and subsequent pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). This study aimed to compare the effects of a multimodal PR program "ADULT" versus "OLDER" people with COVID-19 who were on MV.