Impact of COVID-19 on physiotherapy for patients with multiple sclerosis in Spain: Adaptation and challenges in the implementation of telerehabilitation

Abstract

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic, declared in March 2020, had a profound impact on health services in Spain, especially on physiotherapy for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). The health reorganization forced the suspension of rehabilitation services, affecting millions of people with disabilities in Europe.

Objective

To evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the clinical practice of the Physiotherapy Collective (CF) specialized in multiple sclerosis (MS) in Spain, highlighting the changes in interventions and the use of telerehabilitation (TRHB).

Materials and methods

An international survey was designed and disseminated in Spain through MS associations. The sample included 32 physiotherapists. The statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS, with a significance level of p ≤ 0.05.

Results

A total of 78% of physiotherapists worked with PwMS before the pandemic, and the use of TRHB increased to 29.24%. A reduction in face-to-face interventions, especially in manual therapies, was observed, mainly affecting patients with severely impaired mobility (SIM). However, 81.3% kept aerobic training sessions online. The main barriers were the lack of devices and the difficulty in conducting adequate assessments.

Conclusions

The pandemic not only underscored the importance of TRHB but also exposed key limitations. Future research should focus on improving its feasibility and providing appropriate training to optimize care for PwMS.