Factors Affecting the Viability of Disabled COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

The present research featured patients with disabilities who survived COVID-19 and had to undergo a course of comprehensive rehabilitation. Foreign scientists proved that COVID-19 can affect viability, although it does not necessarily triggers mental and psychological health disorders. The research objective was to define the main factors that affect the viability of clients of a medical rehabilitation center. The article contains a review of various approaches to the concept of viability and introduces an authentic definition. The analysis was based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and revealed both positive and negative factors that affect the viability of disabled patients after COVID-19. The positive factors included harmonious or anosognosic attitude to the disease, i.e. unwillingness to consider oneself "sick" or "disabled" in working-age patients with short disease history and high rehabilitation potential, optimistic life attitude, and good family support. The negative factors included anosognosic attitude to the disease in retired patients with a long disease history. They demonstrated diffuse and mixed types of attitude to the disease, with inconsistent components, poor chances for successful rehabilitation and social adaptation, pessimism, and cynicism about rehabilitation. The research results can help specialists of medical centers to adapt their rehabilitation roadmaps to the needs of disabled COVID-19 survivors.

Keywords

• attitude to the disease
• rehabilitation process
• effectiveness
• contextual factors
• type of relationship to the disease