Efeitos dos exercícios físicos supervisionados na saúde mental, qualidade de vida e autopercepção de saúde de indivíduos com síndrome pós COVID-19

Abstract

Post-COVID-19 syndrome or long COVID is characterized as a clinical condition originating from SARS-CoV-2 infection that presents persistent symptoms that developed or continued after contamination. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of practicing a supervised physical exercise program on the mental health of individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome. This is a double-blind randomized clinical trial. Initially, 39 individuals participated, divided into a control group (CG), which maintained the conventional monitoring method, and an intervention group (GEF), which used a supervised physical exercise program. For data collection, the Mini Mental State Examination was used, structured sociodemographic questionnaires to investigate COVID-19, identification data and health conditions, self-perception of health was investigated using the Likert Scale, pain intensity was assessed using of the Visual Analogue Pain Scale (VAS), questions related to the participants' quality of life were assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 36 - Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire, sleep quality using the Quality Index of Pittsburgh Sleep and issues related to mental health, stress symptoms, depression and anxiety were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) instrument. The majority of participants were women, who described themselves as white, with incomplete higher education. A significant improvement was observed related to the self-perception of health of the GEF participants, while in the CG no improvement in self-perception of health was observed. There were no significant changes related to mental health, sleep quality, stress and anxiety symptoms. Practicing a supervised physical exercise program has been shown to be effective for a positive perception of health.