BACKGROUND AND AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the functional capacity, fatigue severity, impact of fatigue, and severity of dyspnea in the first month after discharge in patients with moderate-to-critical groups of COVID-19.

METHODS: The study included 92 patients who were divided into three groups, modarate (n=31), severe (n=32), critical (n=29), based on initial dispnea severity. 6-minute walk test (6MWT), 30-second sit-to-stand test (30secSTS), the fatigue severity scale (FSS), the fatigue impact scale (FIS) and Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnea scale were evaluated for each patient.

RESULTS: As the disease severity increased, a significant decrease was found in the walking distance of the 6 MWT and the number of full stands of the 30secSTS (p=0.003, p<0.001, respectively). The mean scores of FIS and FSS were higher in the critical group (p<0.001). The rate of patients in mMRC grade 2 was higher in the severe and critical groups (46.9% and 58.6%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed that the critical COVID-19 group had lower functional capacity and higher severity of fatigue, effect of fatigue, and severity of dyspnea.