The Effectiveness of Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy in the Treatment of Patients with COVID-19

Ouellette, Nelle; Robertson, Julie; Bellinger, Leah

Research Objectives 1. To identify the clinical presentation and treatment considerations for patients with COVID-19. 2. To identify interdisciplinary rehabilitation assessment tools that could be used to evaluate patients recovering from COVID-19. 3. To quantify the effectiveness of physical, occupational, and speech therapy in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in inpatient rehabilitation. Design This is an observational pretest-posttest study of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between the dates of April 28, 2020 and July 1, 2020. Setting This was a study of patients with COVID-19 admitted to a regional acute inpatient rehabilitation center in Takoma Park, Maryland - Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation. Participants This study involved a convenience sample of patients aged 18+ with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis admitted to a regional inpatient rehabilitation center. The total number of study participants was n=35 with n=18-n=22 of various discipline-specific subdivisions of the research based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. Interventions An average of 3 hours of therapy per day with a minimum of two out of three disciplines between physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Main Outcome Measures Results from the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF PAI), Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT), Modified Barthel Index - Shah Version (mBI), Orientation Log, and Cognitive Log were collected and analyzed utilizing a paired t-test. Results Statistically significant improvements [p < 0.05] in IRF PAI (p=2.02 × 10^-14), 6MWT (p=2.29 × 10^-9), mBI (p=5.95 × 10^-9), Orientation Log (p=1.81 × 10^-2), and Cognitive Log (p=9.21 × 10^-4) scores. Conclusions Statistically significant improvements in each discipline-specific outcome measure demonstrates that physical, occupational, and speech therapy improve the mobility, self-care, and cognitive performance of individuals recovering from COVID-19 at the inpatient rehabilitation level of care. Author(s) Disclosures The authors declare no conflicts of interest.