ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement A-K 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 322
WONCA 2023 Supplement 1: WONCA 2023 abstracts (A–K)
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Pulmonary rehabilitation in post-COVID-19 recovery at
primary care hospital in rural Nepal: A post-pandemic
revival experience from an LMIC
Dr Aishana Joshi
Bajrabarahi Chapagaun Hospital
Aim
To evaluate effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation in respiratory and physical outcome and healthrelated quality of life in post-COVID-19 patients at primary care hospital in rural Nepal.
Introduction
Nepal is low-middle-income country (LMIC) in South Asia. The global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in
over one million confirmed cases and 12,000 deaths by November 2022 in Nepal. COVID-19 results
in impaired lung function, physical performance and quality of life. Globally, vital role of pulmonary
rehabilitation in post-COVID-19 recovery has been reported which is largely unknown in the Nepalese
healthcare setting.
Methods
An intervention study was conducted at primary care, government hospital in Nepal from January
to June 2022. Ethics approval was obtained from the Nepal Health Research Council. Eighty postCOVID-19 patients were included, with 40 each in the intervention and control groups. The intervention
group received three-week pulmonary rehabilitation, while the control group received conventional
care. Pre- and postintervention respiratory outcome (respiratory rate, peripheral oxygen saturation),
physical outcome (one-minute sit-to-stand test and six-minute walk test) and health-related quality of
life assessment (using the European quality of life five-dimension three-level (EQ-5D-3L) index) was
compared among the intervention and control groups. Data entry and analysis was done in SPSS
version 20.0.
Results
The mean age of patients was 36.04 ± 11.89 years, with 45% male. On comparing pre- and
postintervention results, significant differences in mean respiratory rate, peripheral oxygen saturation,
one-minute sit-to-stand test and six-minute walk test were observed in the intervention group with P