Investigation From Biopsychosocial Perspective of Patients With Rheumatic Disease With Covid-19 Who Participated in a Biopsychosocial Exercise Program: A Case Series With 6-Month Follow-up

Objective: This novel study aimed to interrogate from a biopsychosocial perspective the health conditions during the Covid-19 infection and long-Covid periods of 5 patients with rheumatic disease infected with Covid-19 who had acquired the habit of regular exercise before the pandemic.

Method: This case study included five patients suffering from Covid-19 infection among patients with rheumatic disease who had acquired the habit of regular exercise before the Covid-19 pandemic. It was applied a questionnaire to the patients from a biopsychosocial perspective to see the short and long-term effects of Covid-19 during and after quarantine. Moreover, the study used the BETY-Biopsychosocical Questionnaire (BETY-BQ) to evaluate a biopsychosocial point, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) to measure functional status, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess anxiety and depression.

Results: In BETY-BQ, HAQ, and HADS, there was an unfavorable increase in overall scores of all patients during Covid-19. After six months, although the results from these three scales improved, some of the patients could not return to their pre-covid state.

Conclusions: The patients participating in the telerehabilitation were able to return to everyday life after Covid more efficiently and overcome post-Covid symptoms easily. This study is important in guiding the exercise approach for patients with rheumatic diseases in pandemics such as Covid-19.