Impact of Spa Physiotherapy Treatment Delay Due To Covid-19 Epidemic On Activity and Participation Level In Patients After Total Hip Replacement

Introduction: In Slovenia, physiotherapy under the auspices of spa treatment (ST) is a specialty that is not known elsewhere in the world in the form of comprehensive rehabilitation of patients after total hip replacement (THR). Methods: To investigate the impact of the covid-19 epidemic on the 14-day ST delay, we conducted a pilot study with a nonrandomized clinical study protocol on a random sample of 10 patients after THR who received physiotherapy treatment. We performed a comparative analysis of initial and final assessments of functional tests in the field of activities and participation. Results: Based on the analysis of the results, we find that there are no statistically significant differences between the study and control group, so that the spa rehabilitation delay did not affect the results of passive mobility measurements, the “Timed up and go test” and the SF-36 questionnaire to assess health-related quality of life. Conclusions: Early rehabilitation contributes to better and faster recovery after THR intervention, but based on the comparison of results in the study and control group, there were no statistically significant differences.