Exercise Capacity and Fatigue in Post-COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Background: While many researchers have investigated the influence of COVID-19 on fatigue and quality of life, its impact on exercise capacity has been little considered. It is therefore our aim to examine the impact of COVID-19 on exercise capacity and fatigue among individuals who have recovered from the virus. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the outpatient physical therapy department of a tertiary hospital and Primary health care center. The study comprised 116 participants divided into two groups: a normative group composed of individuals who had not been infected with COVID-19 in the past three months, and a control group consisting of those who had contracted COVID-19 within the preceding three months. The one-minute sit-to-stand test (1STST) was carried out to assess exercise capacity, following which fatigue was measured using the validated Arabic version of the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). Results: Of the 116 participants enrolled in this study, 76 (65.5%) were in the normative group and 40 (34.5%) in the control group. Following the intervention, the mean FSS score differed significantly between the normative (26.6; SD 10.9) and the control group (36.9; SD 14.8); p-value < 0.001, with participants in the control group reporting higher levels of weariness than those in the normative group. Moreover, as measured by 1STST, the median number of sit-to-stand repetitions completed by participants in the normative group (21.0) was considerably greater than that of the control group (20.0); p-value = 0.025. Conclusion: Participants in the control group reported higher levels of fatigue and demonstrated lower exercise capacity than those in the normative group.