The presence of prolonged symptoms after COVID infection worsens the workability and
quality of life. 200 adults with long COVID syndrome were enrolled after medical,
physical, and mental screening, and were divided into two groups based on their performance.
The intervention group ( n = 100) received supervised rehabilitation at Department
of Pulmonology, Semmelweis University with the registration number 160/2021 between
01/APR/2021–31/DEC/2022, while an age-matched control group ( n = 100) received a
single check-up. To evaluate the long-term effects of the rehabilitation, the intervention
group was involved in a 2- and 3-month follow-up, carrying out cardiopulmonary exercise
test. Our study contributes understanding long COVID rehabilitation, emphasizing the
potential benefits of structured cardiopulmonary rehabilitation in enhancing patient
outcomes and well-being. Significant difference was found between intervention group
and control group at baseline visit in pulmonary parameters, as forced vital capacity,
forced expiratory volume, forced expiratory volume, transfer factor for carbon monoxide,
transfer coefficient for carbon monoxide, and oxygen saturation (all p < 0.05). Our
follow-up study proved that a 2-week long, patient-centered pulmonary rehabilitation
program has a positive long-term effect on people with symptomatic long COVID syndrome.
Our data showed significant improvement between two and three months in maximal oxygen
consumption ( p < 0.05). Multidisciplinary, individualized approach may be a key
element of a successful cardiopulmonary rehabilitation in long COVID conditions, which
improves workload, quality of life, respiratory function, and status of patients with
long COVID syndrome.
