Balance rehabilitation and Long Covid syndrome: effectiveness of thermal water treatment vs. home-based program

Paola Contessa^1*Maria Chiara Maccarone¹Edoardo Passarotto¹Gianluca Regazzo²Stefano Masiero^1,2

• ¹Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation Unit, University of Padua, Padua, Italy, Padova, Italy
• ²Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation School, Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy, Padova, Italy

Balance concerns are increasingly recognized as a common presentation in patients with Long Covid. This study investigates the effects of two distinct rehabilitation programs on balance in a cohort of sixty participants experiencing medium-to-long-term symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Individuals were enrolled and randomly assigned to either a spa resort rehabilitation program or a supervised home-based rehabilitation pro-gram. The study assessed balance and proprioception by analyzing the center of pressure trajectory during a standing task performed with eyes open and closed before, after, and at a 3-and 6-month follow-up after the rehabilitation program. Results indicated that, right after rehabilitation, participants who enrolled in the homebased program demonstrated more significant improvements in mean stay time and in the standard deviation of oscillations in the antero-posterior direction than those who enrolled in a spa-resort program. On the other hand, at the 3-month follow-up, individuals who enrolled in the spa-resort program exhibited improvements in the standard deviation of oscillations in the antero-posterior direction, indicating ongoing benefits over time. These findings suggest that appropriate rehabilitation programs, whether at home or in spa resorts, can contribute to enhancing overall physical function in these patients.