Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation for Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Narrative Review

Abstract

The novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19), which spread rapidly and became a global pandemic, can cause respiratory failure, possi-bly requiring hospital stay or intensive care unit treatment. While COVID-19 primarily affects the respiratory system, evidence has shown that it may also affect other body organs such as the heart. Survivors of COVID-19 may develop physical, respiratory, cardiac, and psychological impairments as well as reduced quality of life. Also, the long-term consequences of COVID-19 remain unclear. Hence, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation should be started as soon as possible to alleviate dyspnea, preserve function, minimize dis-ability, reduce complications, relieve anxiety, and improve quality of life. In this study, we summarized the current cardiopulmonary rehabilitation guidelines and protocols for patients with COVID-19.