Nearly half of COVID patients left hospital with loss of physical abilities, study finds
Although new coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths are plummeting across the U.S., much remains unknown about the lingering consequences of long-COVID months after initial illness, including brain fog, kidney damage and scarred lungs.
Even more mysterious and underreported is the physical loss of ability caused by the virus.
A small study out of Michigan found that 45% of COVID-19 patients hospitalized during the first months of the pandemic experienced “significant functional decline” upon returning home that required medical equipment such as canes, wheelchairs or shower seats, outpatient therapy, caregiver assistance and diet changes.
Of these patients, 80% were referred to physical therapy after being discharged while nearly 20% weren’t able to live independently.
The researchers say their study is a “snapshot look at acute therapy needs” at a time when doctors and other health care staff were working to “keep patients safe while maximizing available beds and minimizing exposure to staff,” study lead author Dr. Alecia Daunter, a pediatric physiatrist at the University of Michigan Hospital, said in a statement.
Now that doctors have a better understanding of the coronavirus and how to treat it, Daunter said health systems can use her study’s data to inform rehabilitation evaluations for those currently hospitalized with COVID-19.
“Acute care therapy can help prevent contractures, preserve muscle strength, address mobility impairments and help maintain cardiorespiratory function when patients are ill,” Daunter told McClatchy News in an email.
“These problems are frequent, and the stakes are pretty high if we miss them, or allow them to progress during hospitalization. Some of these people were working and many were living independently. To lose that level of function is meaningful,” Daunter said of her study’s findings published April 30 in the journal PM&R. “We want to make sure we’re addressing those needs, not just looking at the black and white — survival or death.”
Patients discharged with ailments likely underreported
The team reviewed nearly 300 charts of adult patients from 20 to 95 years old hospitalized for COVID-19 at the University of Michigan Hospital between March and April 2020. The analysis included discharge locations and therapy needs at the time of release.
About 68% of patients required medical equipment such as a cane after being discharged from the hospital; about 27% who showed “functional changes” had difficulty swallowing at the time of release.
Meanwhile, about 40% were never assessed by a physical therapist, occupational therapist or speech language pathologist during their hospitalization.
“Physicians and others in the health care system were working appropriately to discharge patients” in the early months of the pandemic, Daunter said in the statement. “So, the things we do in the hospital to maximize functioning, like mobility interventions and assessing activities of daily living were not happening as often.”
This suggests the number of patients who lose physical abilities after their bout with COVID-19 is likely much higher, Daunter said.
“The major shifts in functioning that we highlight are important, but less dramatic declines in physical and cognitive functioning are likely to be found in nearly all previously hospitalized COVID patients,” study senior author Dr. Anna Kratz, a clinical psychologist at Michigan Medicine, said in the statement. “And we know from decades of rehabilitation work that even subtle changes in functioning can derail a person’s life trajectory. Future work needs to focus on improving our ability to identify and treat people across the full range of the functional decline spectrum.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Nearly half of COVID patients left hospital with loss of physical abilities, study finds."
