Publication date: Nov 05, 2024

Older adults are more likely to acquire the severe manifestation of COVID-19 and the hospitalised survivors experience significant functionality loss. Thus, we aimed to identify the level of functionality in older adults hospitalised due to COVID-19, and the effect of inpatient rehabilitation upon functional recovery. A search was performed on July 2024, across five databases to retrieve studies assessing functionality in patients during COVID-19 hospitalisation, with or without rehabilitation. At admission, higher functionality was significantly higher for survivors than non survivors (standardized mean difference (SMD): 0. 83 [0. 56; 1. 09]). The effect of inpatient rehabilitation on functionality was tested among 38 arms across studies. Inpatient rehabilitation improved functionality SMD across all indexes (1. 47 [1. 18; 1. 77], P ≤ 0. 001), with greatest effect in the patients >70 years (2. 84 [1. 74, 3. 93], P = 0. 006), compared to their counterparts. Hospitalisation due to COVID-19 reduced functionality to a higher extent in older adults above 70 years. Inpatient rehabilitation was effective to improve functionality in both age groups. PROSPERO CRD42021278619.

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