The most severe cases may progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS , which is associated with a risk of long-term repercussions on respiratory function and neuromuscular outcomes.
The functional repercussions of severe forms of COVID may have a major impact on quality of life, and impair the ability to return to work or exercise. Social inequalities in healthcare may influence prognosis, with socially vulnerable individuals more likely to develop severe forms of disease. We describe here the protocol for a prospective, multicentre study that aims to investigate the influence of social vulnerability on functional recovery in patients who were hospitalised in intensive care for ARDS caused by COVID All patients will provide informed consent before participation.
Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international congresses. Trial registration number NCT You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways. A potential limitation of this study is that the participating centres may be unable to perform all the planned examinations and follow-up within the specified timeframe, due to the ongoing pandemic, which has profoundly disorganised the delivery of healthcare.
Slow recruitment may affect inclusion capacity, or completion of the full protocol by the patients included. The initial and long-term prognosis of patients suffering from COVID depends on the severity of the pulmonary affection, and in the most severe cases, patients may progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS. ARDS is associated with a risk of potential long-term repercussions on respiratory function, but also on neuromuscular outcomes, due to the long duration of the ICU stay.
In this department, there was a sudden and massive influx of patients with COVID into hospitals in March , 10 and the virus spread extremely rapidly due to the very high population density, with overcrowding in many places, and higher rates of multigenerational households. A recent literature review 11 highlighted that socioeconomic data are often overlooked, but are crucial to identify the most vulnerable groups.
