INTEGRATED THERMAL CARE AND BIO-PHYSICO-METRIC APPROACH FOR THE TREATMENT OF LONG-COVID PATIENTS

G. Barassi^1,2*, L. Prosperi², R. Pellegrino³, A. Di Iorio⁴, V. Guglielmi², A. Younes², C. Marinucci², M.P. Della Rovere² and M. Panunzio⁵

 
¹Castelnuovo della Daunia Thermal Medicine Center, Castelnuovo della Daunia, Italy;
²Center for Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation and Re-Education (Ce.Fi.R.R.) venue “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy;
³Department of Scientific Research, Campus Ludes, Off-Campus Semmelweis University, Lugano, Switzerland;
⁴Antalgic Mini-Invasive and Rehab-Outpatients Unit, Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, “G. D’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy;
⁵Responsible Research Hospital, Campobasso, Italy
 

Correspondence to:
Giovanni Barassi, PhD, MSc, PT, DO
Center for Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation and Re-Education (CeFiRR)
University of Chieti-Pescara, “G. d’Annunzio”
Chieti, 66013, Italy
e-mail: coordftgb@unich.it

Received: 26 April 2024 Accepted: 30 May 2024

ISSN 2975-044X (online) ISSN 2038-4106 (print) Copyright © by BIOLIFE 2024 This publication and/or article is for individual use only and may not be further reproduced without written permission from the copyright holder. Unauthorized reproduction may result in financial and other penalties. Disclosure: All authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

ABSTRACT

                COVID-19 has involved many aspects of society and, in particular, for most of those who were affected by it, the disease determined the development of prolonged pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and neurological symptoms, generating the so-called Long COVID-19 Syndrome. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of an Integrated Rehabilitation Care protocol, applied according to principles of assessment and treatment derived from a Bio-Physico-Metric approach, in post-COVID patients. Data from a group of 30 patients affected by Long COVID-19 Syndrome were collected right before the beginning and immediately after the end of an 8-week thermal rehabilitation protocol, performed 5 times a week for a total of 40 sessions of treatment. The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Assessment Test (CAT), the Medical Research Council Dyspnea Score (MRC-DS), and the software-assessed head-pelvis alignment angle were considered as assessment methods of respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neurological symptoms. Data observation showed a significant improvement in both CAT (p=0.001) and MRC-DS (p=0.001) scores after applying the Integrated Rehabilitation Care protocol. Therefore, the Integrated Thermal Care rehabilitation protocol seems to be a promising strategy to reduce symptoms of Long COVID-19 Syndrome and improve patients’ quality of life healing from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

KEYWORDS: COVID-19, long haul COVID-19, rehabilitation, physical therapy, thermal care, balneotherapy, mineral waters