Recruitment
SARS-CoV-2 infection, impairment of independence
SARS-COV-2 INFECTION
In this partially randomized controlled trial, 3 groups of patients were recruited, including an IG, an ACG, and a care-as-usual CompG (which did not receive any specific treatment). All individuals who were interested in taking part in the study participated in an initial online screening (time point T1) to identify whether they had PACS based on the following criteria (see Refs. [The participants had ≥3 (of 14) PACS symptoms with severity ≥2 on a scale from 0 (no problem) to 3 (extreme problem).Symptoms could not be attributed to other causes by the participants.Symptoms were new or exacerbated after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.The SARS-CoV-2 infection had been diagnosed more than 4 weeks ago.The participants had not fully or substantially recovered from their PACS symptoms.The participants suffered from impairments in their daily life.Additional inclusion criteria were that participants were between 18 and 60 years old, had not received previous treatment (eg, medical rehabilitation), and did not work in the health care sector, as that would have made them eligible for specialized treatment in Germany. Lastly, participants had no or only a low “care degree.” In Germany, a care degree indicates to what extent a person is in need of care: A care degree of 1 describes “slight impairment of independence” of those in need of care and guarantees them corresponding benefits from long-term care insurance. With a care degree of 5, long-term care insurance funds certify that the insured persons have the “most severe impairment of independence, with special requirements for nursing care” and thus approve the most extensive benefits from the long-term care fund.The IG and ACG were recruited via a separate online link exclusively in Bavaria through press releases, social media campaigns, and GPs who received flyers via mail and were asked to forward the information to their patients if they thought they might have PACS. After reading the study information and providing consent to participate in the study, participants started with the initial screening. If the screening was positive, they were then admitted to the study program after randomization in a 1:2 ratio by the rolling of a die. Patients with a 1 or 2 on the die were allocated to the IG, while patients for whom the die showed 3-6 were randomized to the ACG. In some cases, randomization was not possible (eg, if patients could not attend in-person interventions due to organizational reasons or were recruited after the assessment dates were booked). Thus, there was an exception for 30 (13.3%) patients who were reallocated to the ACG.