• Pankaj Pant, Aishana Joshi, Babin Basnet, Bibek Man Shrestha, Navindra Raj Bista, Niraj Bam, and Santa Kumar Das.
• Department of Pulmonology and Critical Care, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal.
• JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2021 Jan 31; 59 (233): 7-11.

IntroductionCOVID-19 is an emerging global health pandemic causing tremendous morbidity and mortality worldwide. Chronic symptoms progressing to poor functional status have been reported in a substantial proportion of COVID-19 patients worldwide. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of functional limitation in COVID-19 recovered patients using the post-COVID-19 functional status scale.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. COVID-19 recovered patients with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction negative status were included and assessed using the post-COVID-19 functional status scale. Data entry and analysis was done in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were performed.ResultsA total of 106 patients were included for the final analysis. More than half of the patients (56.6%) reported having no functional limitation (grade 0), while the prevalence of some degree of functional limitation was observed in 46 (43.4%) patients (grade 1 to 4).ConclusionsSome form of functional limitation should be anticipated after COVID-19 infection. Post-COVID-19 functional status scale can be a valuable tool in determining the prevalence of functional limitation in COVID-19 recovered patients in acute health care settings. It can potentially guide in planning rehabilitative measures in post-acute care management of COVID-19 survivors.

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