Walking Dysfunction Among Patients With COVID-19 Admitted to LTACHs

In a national cohort of patients admitted to long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) for severe, prolonged COVID-19, one-third achieved clinically important improvement in the Six Minute Walk Test at LTACH discharge, according to findings published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

The study included 184 patients, mean age 64.5 years, who spent an average 30.9 days hospitalized for COVID-19 before being transferred to one of five LTACHs. Among them, 85% of patients spent 3 days or more in intensive care, 65% received mechanical ventilation, and 30% had tracheostomies.

Among all patients, the average Six Minute Walk Test distance increased from a median 0 meters at LTACH admission to a median 13.4 meters at discharge. Investigators found 32% of participants improved by at least 54 meters at discharge, a distance considered the MCID for patients with pulmonary diseases and which researchers adopted as the benchmark for improvement for the study.

At discharge, patients who qualified as improved achieved an average distance of 180.9 meters on the Six Minute Walk Test, compared with an average 10.1 meters for patients who did not meet the improvement benchmark.

Patients who achieved improvement on the walk test tended to be younger, were ventilated for fewer days, and were less likely to have a tracheostomy, researchers reported.

Reference:
Burnfield J, Votto J, Hays A, et al. Six minute walk test changes during long-term acute care hospital rehabilitation for patients post COVID-19. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2022;103(3):e13-e14. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2022.01.036