Avaliação de força muscular respiratória e qualidade de vida em pacientes pós-covid-19

Abstract

The infection caused by the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), known as COVID-19, results in severe acute respiratory system impairment. Tha COVID-19 has many negative effects among infected individuals. This study evaluated respiratory muscle strength, quality of life (QOL) and possible correlations among respiratory muscle strength and functional capacity (FC) in a group previously diagnosed with COVID-19. This was a quantitative cross-sectional study, observational group study, with convenience sampling, dependent on age and independent of sex, which was approved by the Ethics Committee for Research with Human Beings of the Federal University of Uberlândia (CEP/UFU) in accordance with opinion 1,182,730. 28 volunteers were included who responded to the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire and performed respiratory muscle strength through maximal respiratory pressures. The results indicate that respiratory muscle strength was lower than expected. The SF-36 performance in all domains was greater than 50 points, and there was a positive correlation between maximum respiratory pressures and functional capacity. It is possible to conclude that post-COVID-19 patients have reduced respiratory muscle strength, assessed by maximum respiratory pressures. The QoL results were normal, however it was possible to establish a positive correlation between respiratory muscle strength and CF, showing that those with greater respiratory strength also had an improvement in functional capacity.