Rehabilitation is an integral part of universal
health coverage (UHC), alongside health
promotion, prevention, curative and palliative
care. It is a set of interventions designed to
optimize functioning and reduce disability in
individuals with health conditions in interaction
with their environment (54). It includes a broad
range of interventions provided by a
multidisciplinary workforce, including education
and advice, therapeutic exercise and training,
provision of pharmaceutical agents, assistive
product provision, and individual adaptations to
the home or work environment. Rehabilitation
service delivery occurs along the continuum of
care, at all levels of health care.
Rehabilitation needs of people recovering from COVID-19: scientific brief
-4-
hospitalized; admitted to intensive care) (20, 43). The most commonly described ongoing symptoms
are weakness, general malaise, fatigue, concentration impairment and breathlessness (44). While
initial symptoms may persist, cognitive dysfunction, including problems with attention, executive
function and memory, may become more prevalent later in the illness (32, 45). Over 50 long-term
effects have been described (46); some symptoms may develop in addition to the acute symptoms
(47). Patients have reported that physical activity, stress and sleep disturbance commonly trigger
symptoms (32). Rehabilitation for people experiencing severe problems or a protracted course of Post
COVID-19 Condition most likely requires a person-centred, comprehensive and multidisciplinary
approach to interventions which are provided in close collaboration with primary health care and
several medical specialties. Interventions for rehabilitation may include advice on resumption of
activities; breathing techniques; exercise therapy; psychological interventions; cognitive training;
rehabilitation for communication and swallowing difficulties; and occupational rehabilitation (48–52).
Currently, the evidence base on interventions for rehabilitation and outcomes is limited; an interim
guidance will be developed by WHO based on available evidence and clinical expertise.
WHO resources for rehabilitation of COVID-19
1. The use of WHO Post COVID-19 Case Report Form (CRF) is recommended to collect standardized and
anonymized patient-level data for the monitoring of mid- and long-term consequences of COVID-19
(
WHO Post COVID-19 CRF
).
2. The WHO COVID-19 Clinical Management: Living Guidance contains a chapter on rehabilitation for
physical, cognitive and mental health issues in COVID-19 (
WHO COVID-19 Clinical management: living
guidance
).
3. An online training course on the rehabilitation of patients with COVID-19 is available at OpenWHO.org
(
WHO Rehabilitation of patients with COVID-19 Course
).
4. To ensure appropriate, effective and safe rehabilitation self-management, a WHO patient-leaflet has
been developed (
WHO support for rehabilitation self-management after COVID-19
).
5. The WHO Rehabilitation Programme is collaborating with Cochrane Rehabilitation to define a research
agenda for the rehabilitation of COVID-19 (
WHO Rehabilitation Programme and COVID-19 resources
)
Limitations
The current body of evidence about the health impact of COVID-19 and rehabilitation needs is limited and
has several shortcomings. Describing health impact of COVID-19 and clinical manifestations amenable for
rehabilitation remains difficult without widespread use of standardized and comparable outcome
measures of functioning in longitudinal trials that include a representative control group. Many studies
are based on self-reported symptoms and outcomes, and this may lead to recall biases and case
misclassification. The use of an app and social media to recruit patients may result in a selection bias
towards recruitment of those more likely to be symptomatic following SARS-CoV-2 infection and lead to
an overestimation of the prevalence of symptoms. Publication and reporting bias may be substantial
issues; in primary studies that seek to evaluate health impact and limitations in functioning in people
recovering from COVID-19, authors may report only those estimates where statistically significant
differences are found.
Rehabilitation needs of people recovering from COVID-19: scientific brief
-5-
Funding
Funded by WHO.
Plans for updating
WHO continues to monitor the situation closely for any changes that may affect this scientific brief.
Should any factors change, WHO will issue a further update. Otherwise, this scientific brief document will
expire one year after the date of publication.
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© World Health Organization 2021. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
IGO
license.
WHO reference number: WHO/2019-nCoV/Sci_Brief/Rehabilitation/2021.1
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