Listening Time — 21:29
Physical therapists working with people with long COVID should measure and validate the patient’s experience.
PTJ Editor-in-Chief Alan Jette talks with Rosie Twomey, PhD, about the complexities of long COVID, including the severity and unpredictability of the symptoms. Twomey’s research found that higher fatigue was significantly associated with lower quality of life, lower physical and social functioning, and a greater perceived change in health status (worse health compared with one year previously). Severe fatigue also was associated, though less strongly, with mental functioning on the SF-36. Twomey delves into postexertional malaise, screening, and the critical role that physical therapists play in monitoring patients’ responses to exercise and reducing setbacks. "There is still much to be learned about the trajectory of long COVID," says Twomey, "The prognosis is still unknown, but people can improve."
Speakers
Alan M. Jette, PT, PhD, FAPTA, is editor-in-chief of PTJ: Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal.
Rosie Twomey, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow, Ohlson Research Initiative, Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute and O’Brien Institute of Public Health, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary.