Instrumentos de avaliação da capacidade funcional aplicados em pacientes hospitalizados com COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: In December 2019, COVID-19 was recognized in Wuhan. Approximately 15% of individuals evolve to hospitalization and 5% need care in the intensive care unit, causing complications due to the prolonged period of hospitalization and losses in functional capacity. The use of instruments to measure functional decline aims to optimize the actions and therapeutic plans so that they are started as early and individualized as possible. Objectives: Identify the main instruments for evaluating functional capacity used by physiotherapists in Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive study, of the online questionnaire type, answered by physiotherapists who treated patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Brazil. The statistical treatment used was descriptive, the chi-square test and the binary logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 485 physiotherapists completed the questionnaire. The most reported functional assessment instruments in the ward were the Medical Research Council (59.6%) and the 6-minute walking test (21.7%). In the ICU the most cited were the Medical Research Council (63.9%) and the Intensive Care Mobility Scale (33.1%). In the infirmary, having carried out training on COVID-19 (OR: 2,310; IC: 1,477 - 5,283), working hours above 50 hours per week (OR: 2,149; IC: 1,069 - 4,321), and being male (OR: 2,690; CI: 1,071 - 6,760) are associated with a greater probability of applying the functional instruments. In the ICU, physiotherapists who were updated on COVID-19 (OR: 2,793; IC: 1,477 - 5.283) and those who performed their work activities in hospitals linked to the university (OR: 1,783; CI: 1,020 -3,118), were more likely to use the functional measurement instruments. Conclusion: Most of the physiotherapists interviewed use functional assessment instruments to evaluate individuals with COVID-19 hospitalized in wards and ICU. In addition, most of these professionals evaluate more than one physical component and employ the results of the functional evaluation instruments to outline the physiotherapeutic plan in this population.