Telemonitoring of Individuals Participating in a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Telemonitoramento de pneumopatas crônicos

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the temporary closure of several pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programs. This caused many programs to start using strategies such as telerehabilitation and telemonitoring, to continue guaranteeing assistance to their patients. Objective: To evaluate the impact of telemonitoring for physical exercise at home on exercise capacity in patients with chronic respiratory diseases participating in a PR program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Observational study that included individuals with chronic respiratory diseases assisted in a PR program. After the interruption by the pandemic, the individuals were instructed to perform exercises at home and started to be monitored remotely. The individuals' exercise capacity was assessed with different tests before starting RP, and after the telemonitoring period. Results: 22 individuals were included, but only 11 performed the final evaluation. Most were female (73%), mean age 55 ± 18 years, with a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (30%) or pulmonary fibrosis (30%). There was no change in the result of the 6-minute walk test, or in the results of the lower limb incremental test (p>0.05). However, there was an increase in the duration of the lower limb endurance test, going from 362 ± 209s to 1142 ± 989s (p=0.003). Conclusion: Telemonitoring can contribute to gains in submaximal exercise capacity in individuals with chronic respiratory diseases participating in a PR program, when face-to-face monitoring is not possible.