Assessment of Long COVID in Medical Rehabilitation

Abstract

The aim of the study was to provide an insight into the care situation of long COVID patients in inpatient medical rehabilitation facilities in Germany. For this purpose, a standardized online survey was conducted among 1,080 inpatient medical rehabilitation facilities in Germany. A total of 338 cases were available for the analysis. Of these, 173 (51%) reported treating long COVID. The cumulative total number of rehabilitants with long COVID treated in the facilities up to the time of the survey was 11,948. The results showed that rehabilitation facilities were mostly prepared for the care of patients with Long COVID. Lack of capacity was reported especially by those rehabilitation facilities that treated rehabilitants with long COVID in pneumology departments. Furthermore, capacity bottlenecks were related to the total number of patients with long COVID in the rehabilitation facility ("proportion of rehabilitants with long COVID to all rehabilitants in the department"). Heterogeneity was found in the treatment concept for long COVID and the allocation of patients to a specific department. The results of the long COVID inventory underline the importance of medical rehabilitation in the treatment of the long-term health and participation-related consequences of COVID-19.