4. Discussion
overweight, PTSD, overweight or obesity
DISEASE
The present study aimed to investigate the effects of a multi-professional intervention model on the mental health of middle-aged, overweight survivors of COVID-19. The results of the present study confirmed that psychoeducation, added to multi-professional activities, was effective in significantly improving the psychological symptoms in different experimental groups with higher or lower emphasis depending on the disease severity of COVID-19, and even in the control group. Therefore, multi-professional interventions effectively improved the mental health and sleep quality of participants in the present study (regardless of the experimental group).To date, to the authors’ knowledge, no studies have investigated multi-professional interventions using psychoeducation, nutritional intervention, and physical exercise (together—in multi-professional interventions) in individuals who survived COVID-19 with overweight or obesity. The excess fat could reduce physical fitness and extend the treatment to recover the COVID-19 survivors [The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively influenced the well-being of the general population [Multi-professional teams allow a holistic view of individuals, enabling personal, social, and psychological development [As verified in this study, the participants showed a significant reduction in the global score and the IES-r subscales, namely intrusion, hyperarousal, and avoidance. These scales are due to the diagnosis of PTSD [Our study provides information regarding COVID-19 survivors, which is timely and informative data for the intervention and recovery of those patients. However, in our study, there was a significant sample loss over the eight weeks of intervention, with a possible lack of interest on the part of the population to continue with multi-professional care. This occurred due to a lack of motivation and time, and patients believed that they were already better and would not need to continue with multi-professional activities. Almost all of the patients who dropped out of the interventions were low-income people. Qualitative feedback on drop-outs was linked to financial and transport issues. During the most restrictive period of the COVID-19 pandemic, people received minimal financial assistance from the government and started treatment. When the resources were exhausted, people had to work or stay at home and save money to buy food and pay the essential expenses of their respective households. Unfortunately, in Brazil, the researchers and universities cannot pay the expenses of the patients. Thus, a big part of drop-out is linked to the Brazilian reality. In addition, it was not possible to perform an intention-to-treat analysis, as the participants did not return to the university to be reassessed. Finally, no studies have been found combining multi-professional interventions with psychoeducation in COVID-19 survivors. Thus, the present study’s findings can guide possible actions to recover the global health conditions of those who contracted COVID-19.