Observational studyEuropean geriatric medicine2024
Post-COVID-19 recovery and geriatric rehabilitation care: a European inter-country comparative study.
Observational study in European geriatric medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Health-related quality of life in COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of EQ-5D studies.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2025Pooled it
- Requirements for the scale up of a geriatric aftercare program: a qualitative interview study with stakeholders - findings from the GeRas project.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Core principles and structures of geriatric rehabilitation: a narrative review.Ewha medical journal · 2025Article
- Exploring long-term recovery and community health management: a qualitative study of older adults and caregivers' experiences post COVID-19 in the Republic of Ireland.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThere is variation in organization of geriatric rehabilitation across Europe. The purpose of this study was to describe the selection criteria for referral to geriatric rehabilitation, care provided, and recovery trajectories of post-COVID-19 patients referred to geriatric rehabilitation in Europe.
methodsThis observational cohort study included 723 patients in 59 care facilities for geriatric rehabilitation across 10 countries. Patient data were collected from medical records on admission to geriatric rehabilitation (between September 2020 and October 2021), discharge, 6 weeks and 6 months follow-up. The primary and secondary outcomes were recovery in daily functioning (Barthel Index) and Quality of Life (EQ-5D-5L) from admission to discharge. These were examined using linear mixed models with two levels (measurements nested in patients) and country as an independent variable. Random intercept and random linear slope parameters were added when they improved model fit. A survey about organization of geriatric rehabilitation for post-COVID-19 patients was filled out by country coordinators and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inductive coding of answers to open questions.
resultsPatients had a mean age of 75.7 years old and 52.4% were male. Many countries used various combinations of the selection criteria, such as functional status, age, frailty, Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, comorbidities, and cognitive impairments. Most patients received physiotherapy (88.8%) and occupational therapy (69.7%), but there was substantial variance between countries in the percentages of patients that received protein or calorie enriched diets, oxygen therapy, and other treatment components. In all countries, patients showed recovery in daily functioning and quality of life, although there was variation in between countries in rate of recovery. Daily functioning seemed to increase most rapidly in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Russia. The steepest increases in quality of life were seen in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Spain.
conclusionPost-COVID-19 patients showed recovery during geriatric rehabilitation, albeit at variable rates. The observed variation may be explained by the heterogeneity in selection criteria and care provided. This study highlights the need for harmonization of measurements in geriatric rehabilitation order to perform explanatory research and optimize geriatric rehabilitation throughout Europe to ensure optimal patient recovery.
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