Severe SARS-CoV-2 infection: Clinical assessment and biomechanical functional evaluation one month after hospital discharge

Objective: To describe by an observational cross-sectional study the clinical and functional situation, at one month after hospital discharge, of patients admitted with COVID-19 in the hospital ICU between March and December 2020. Material and methods: 59 patients were studied using different clinical scales and biomechanical analysis tests (hand dynamometry, fall risk assessment, gait and balance analysis). Results: At one month after discharge, patients reported persistent symptoms: dyspnea (47.5%), arthromyalgia (45%) and cough (22%). In the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire up to 73% of patients reported levels of anxiety or depression. 74.6% and 69.5% presented alterations in the strength of the right and left hand, respectively. The risk of falls in 38% of patients was moderate to very high. The somatosensory index remained within normal parameters, while the vestibular and, to a lesser extent, the visual indexes were altered. In gait, 81.4% of patients showed no abnormalities outside the normal range, with a normal average walking speed. Conclusions: In the short term after severe COVID-19, patients have persistent symptomatology, anxiety/depression, impaired balance with increased risk of falls and loss of grip strength in both hands. (c) 2021 Sociedad Espanola ola de Rehabilitacio<acute accent>n y Medicina F & imath;<acute accent>sica. Published by Elsevier Espana, a, S.L.U. All rights reserved.