Early experiences of the Your COVID Recovery^®digital programme for individuals with long COVID

Abstract

ObjectivesTo describe the early data from the Your COVID Recovery® digital programme and to explore the data collected from two embedded outcome measures.DesignObservational.SettingPrimary and secondary care (England—Online).Participants110 individuals completed the programme (68.1% female, 88.1% White British, age: 46.3 (10.8) years, weight: 86.5 (21.1) kg, height: 169.3 (10.0) cm). 47.2% of patients reported comorbidities.InterventionFollowing an assessment by a healthcare professional, individuals with long COVID were offered access to the Your COVID Recovery® digital programme. The programme comprises of four stages for the participants to progress through. Participants are encouraged to record severity of their symptoms and amount of activity they are doing on a symptom and an activity tracker. Resources and interactive material on managing symptoms of long COVID are available throughout each stage.Primary outcome measuresQuestionnaire (EuroQ0l 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) and the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test (CAT)) data were extracted from the site from 11 March 2021 until 9 November 2021.ResultsParticipants were on the programme for 8.6 (4.3) weeks. There was a statistically significant increase in EQ-5D-5L visual analogue scale (VAS) score (pre=48.8 (19.5); post=59.9 (22.1); p<0.01). The EQ-5D-5L Index Value preintervention to postintervention did improve but not significantly (pre=0.5 (0.3); post=0.6 (0.3); p=0.09). CAT total score improved significantly preintervention to postintervention (pre=19.8 (7.2); post=15.6 (7.6); p<0.01). All CAT item scores significantly improved preintervention to postintervention (p<0.005), except the phlegm item score (p=0.168).DiscussionThis early data describes the impact of the Your COVID Recovery® digital programme on the first cohort of patients to complete the digital recovery programme. The outcome data are promising and should encourage uptake.

The effect of COVID rehabilitation for ongoing symptoms Post HOSPitalisation with COVID-19 (PHOSP-R): protocol for a randomised parallel group controlled trial on behalf of the PHOSP consortium

“…An increasing body of evidence supports the use of digitally delivered rehabilitation programmes in long-term condition conditions that overcome several access barriers to traditional face-to-face programmes [ 17 , 18 ]. Early data has shown that the use of the Your COVID Recovery programme can improve health-related quality of life and COVID-related symptoms in an uncontrolled sample [ 19 ].…”

The pulmonary rehabilitation effect on long covid‐19 syndrome: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…with TPR respiratory training with sham devices (del Corral et al, 2022). However, most of the studies were single-arm cohort studies without unexposed cohort (Albu et al, 2022;Cahalan et al, 2022;Calvo-Paniagua et al, 2022;Compagno et al, 2022;Daynes et al, 2021;Estebanez-Pérez et al, 2022;Groenveld et al, 2022;Hasenoehrl et al, 2022;Lloyd-Evans et al, 2022;Nopp et al, 2022).…”

“…In assessing the quality of life, the most commonly used questionnaire was the EuroQol-5D (Daynes et al, 2021;del Corral et al, 2022;Lloyd-Evans et al, 2022;Nopp et al, 2022), followed by SF-12 (Groenveld et al, 2022;Jimeno-Almazán et al, 2022, SF-36 (Compagno et al, 2022;Philip et al, 2022), and Saint George…”

“…Regarding gender, the majority of samples in the included studies were composed of women, with only four studies in which men were present in greater proportion(Albu et al, 2022;Compagno et al, 2022;Daynes et al, 2021;Nopp et al, 2022).3.4 | Interventions and controlsRespiratory muscle strengthening was the most used training program(Albu et al, 2022;Cahalan et al, 2022;Calvo-Paniagua et al, 2022;del Corral et al, 2022;Estebanez-Pérez et al, 2022;Jimeno-Almazán et al, 2023;McNarry et al, 2022;Nopp et al, 2022;Okan et al, 2022;Philip et al, 2022), followed by strength and/or aerobic training(Albu et al, 2022;Calvo-Paniagua et al, 2022;Compagno et al, 2022;Daynes et al, 2021;Estebanez-Pérez et al, 2022;Hasenoehrl et al, 2022;Lloyd-Evans et al, 2022;Nopp et al, 2022), and educational counceling(Albu et al, 2022;Cahalan et al, 2022;Calvo- Paniagua et al, 2022;Daynes et al, 2021;Estebanez-Pérez et al, 2022;Lloyd-Evans et al, 2022;Philip et al, 2022). Other therapies, such as psychological treatment (cognitive therapies, relaxation techniques…), were also used along with exercise-based therapies(Albu et al, 2022;Cahalan et al, 2022;Compagno et al, 2022).…”

Perceptions and experiences of different Long COVID community rehabilitation service models from the perspectives of people living with Long COVID and healthcare professionals

“…To date rehabilitation services for Long COVID have varied internationally with respect to delivery and the healthcare professionals involved [15], including virtual rehabilitation focusing on self-management and education [16], group-based pulmonary rehabilitation [17], tiered multidisciplinary pathways [18], and phased approaches to managing symptoms [19]. Our research group are investigating models of service delivery for Long COVID rehabilitation and will provide recommendations for the effective provision of community rehabilitation for PwLC.…”