Marina Peball, Verena Rass, Dora Valent, Ronny Beer, Alois Josef Schiefecker, Victoria Limmert, Lauma Putnina, Beatrice Heim, Philipp Ellmerer, Federico Carbone, Philipp Mahlknecht, Mario Kofler, Anna Lindner, Philipp Kindl, Sabina Sahanic, Maximilian Coen, Alex Pizzini, Bettina Pfausler, Stefan Kiechl, Thomas Sonnweber, Ivan Tancevski, Judith Löffler-Ragg, Atbin Djamshidian, Raimund Helbok, Klaus Seppi

Body composition and physical performance one year after COVID-19

  • Rehabilitation
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
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Abstract Objective Long-term consequences after coronavirus-disease (COVID-19) include physical complaints which may impair physical recovery and quality of life. Design We assessed body composition and physical ability in patients twelve months after COVID-19. Consecutively recruited patients recovering from mild to severe COVID-19 were assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis, 6-minute-walk-test, additional scales for physical performance, and health-related quality of life. Results Overall physical recovery was good (i.e., Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended ≥7 in 96%, Modified Rankin Scale ≤1 in 87%, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group ≤1 in 99%). Forty-four-% of the 69 patients experienced a significant BMI-increase in the year post-COVID-19 (≥1 kg/m2) whereas skeletal-muscle-mass-index was reduced in only 12%. Patients requiring intensive-care-treatment (n = 15, 22%) during acute COVID-19 more often had a BMI-increase (p = 0.002), worse 6-minute-walk-test-performance (p = 0.044), and higher body fat mass (p = 0.030) at the one-year-follow-up when compared to patients with mild (n = 22, 32%) and moderate (n = 32, 46%) acute COVID-19. BMI-increase was also more frequent in patients who had no professional rehabilitation (p = 0.014). Conclusion Although patients with severe COVID-19 had increased BMI and body fat and performed worse in physical outcome measures one year after COVID-19, overall physical recovery was satisfying. Translating these findings to variants beyond the alpha-strain of SARS-CoV-2-virus needs further studies.

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