PHYSICAL THERAPY IN DIABETIC PATIENTS INFECTED WITH COVID-19 ACUTE AND POST-ACUTE RECOVERY

Diabetes is the second highly prevalent disease among chronic diseases in patients with COVID-19 and is responsible for high morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. Diabetic patients with uncontrolled glycemic levels have a worse prognosis than patients who have strict glycemic controls. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of social distancing measures has reduced physical activity in people due to home quarantine and lockdowns. COVID-19 disease can affect the functional capacity and occupational health of diabetic patients. This fact urges the need for physical therapy during the active and recovery phase of COVID-19 disease. This review study has analyzed the effects of physical therapy in COVID-19 patients previously suffering from diabetes during the active and recovery phases. Different articles were retrieved from PubMed and a literature review was conducted. A complete evaluation of different studies revealed four topics that correspond to the results of this study. 1) Physical therapy in non-hospitalized diabetic patients suffering from COVID-19 disease 2) Physical therapy in hospitalized and ICU diabetic patients suffering from COVID-19 disease 3) Physical therapy in diabetic patients recovering from COVID-19 disease 4) Role of physical therapists in the battle against COVID-19. The findings of the previous studies showed that COVID-19 has significant effects on the physical capacity of sufferers especially those with a chronic disease like diabetes. This fact implies that physical therapists should also be involved in the battle against COVID-19 diseases for improving the functional capacity during both the active and recovery phase of the illness.