Telerehabilitation in Rheumatic Diseases During the Process of COVID-19 Pandemic

Telerehabilitation (TR) aims to decrease barriers such as distance, time and cost by using technology to patients and clinicians. It provides to obtain rehabilitation for patients who cannot go to a medical center due to physical, environmental or economic inadequacies. COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory disease that is caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome causing Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was firstly seen in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly all over the world. World Health Organization (WHO) was declared COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020. The most common symptoms are fever, cough and dyspnoea. Social isolation and staying home have been suggested to reduce the spreading rate of COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. In addition, curfew except necessity was applied in some countries and time of curfew varied by country. Patients with rheumatic diseases are at higher risk of infections because of disease activity and immunosuppression. In addition, old age and having concomitant chronic disease are among risk factors for coronavirus. Therefore, national health services recommend patients to practice self-isolation and self-quarantine. However, social isolation was concluded with more increased physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle. Physical inactivity and disuse are proven to cause joint destruction, decreased aerobic capacity and muscle atrophy in patients with rheumatic diseases.The importance and requirement for TR were observed better during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, aim of this study was to investigate the effects of TR on fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep quality, disease activity and quality of life.