Effect of Inpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Pulmonary Outcomes in Individuals With COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Guidelines advocate the use of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in individuals with COVID-19. However, there is a lack of concrete information on inpatient PR. Therefore, we synthesized literature on the efficacy of inpatient PR on pulmonary outcomes in individuals with COVID-19. Using PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Embase, three researchers screened 474 articles for eligibility with the search terms: (covid-19 or coronavirus or 2019-ncov or sars-cov-2 or cov-19 *) AND (respiratory or pulmonary) AND (physical therapy or physiotherapy or rehabilitation). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses was used. Nine articles were finalized using the inclusion criteria: diagnosis of COVID-19, age >18 years and inpatient PR. Reviewers extracted relevant information and appraised using the Robins-I tool and the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. The pooled sample consisted of 718 participants (F = 35.2%, age = 36-71 y). Study quality for non-randomized trial was moderate, while cohort studies had a mean score of 7/9. The pooled estimate showed that inpatient PR could improve the exercise capacity with clinical importance for individuals with COVID-19. Within group changes were noted in FEV1 and FVC values (n = 4) and HR-QoL (n = 3). Inpatient PR was reported to be safe (n = 4). Current review suggests that inpatient PR was safe, feasible and induced large improvements in exercise capacity in individuals with COVID-19. Given the high heterogeneity, sample sizes and quality of designs of the included studies, findings should be interpreted with caution. Our study provides valuable evidence that inpatient PR is safe and may accelerate improvement in exercise capacity in individuals with COVID-19.