Table 1.
Suggested admission criteria for physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) for COVID-19 patients.
| ≥ 7 days from diagnosis of COVID-19 |
| At least 72 hrs with no fever and no fever-reducing medication |
| Stable RR and SatO2 |
| Clinical and/or radiological evidence of stability (CT-scan or lung ultrasonography) |
| Clinical messages (lessons learned from experience) |
|---|
| The clinical condition of COVID-19 patients can rapidly evolve in the first 7–10 days. The risk of deterioration should be carefully evaluated before early transfer of such patients to PMR services |
| If possible, COVID-19–positive and–negative PMR services should be physically separated and have different staff |
| Dysphagia evaluation and rehabilitation should be considered potentially an aerosol-producing maneuvre. Therefore, all patients with dysphagia (from stroke or other reason), unless the contrary is proven, should be considered to have COVID-19 (with the need to use appropriate personal protective equipment according to the country or institution guidelines) |
| Preferably admit COVID-19–negative patients with non-invasive ventilation to single rooms only. If they become infected during the rehabilitation, the risk of staff and roommate infection is very high |
| Careful consideration should be given to problems related to in-hospital isolation of patients with severe cognitive and communication deficits |
| Carefully consider the impact of psychiatric consequences of COVID-19 patients (severe and critical forms), their families and the staff. Consider also the impact on patients with chronic disability (primarily cognitive disability) living at home or in an institution |
| Consider access to rehabilitative care for patients with chronic and acute disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic |
RR: respiratory rate; SatO2: blood oxygen saturation.