Citation: Ghanem, J.; Passadori, A.; Severac, F.; Dieterlen, A.; Geny, B.; Andrès, E. Effects of Rehabilitation on Long-COVID-19 Patient’s Autonomy, Symptoms and Nutritional Observance. Nutrients 2022, 14, 3027. https:// doi.org/10.3390/nu14153027 Academic Editor: Jose Lara Received: 16 May 2022 Accepted: 19 July 2022 Published: 23 July 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). nutrients Communication Effects of Rehabilitation on Long-COVID-19 Patient’s Autonomy, Symptoms and Nutritional Observance Jeyniver Ghanem 1,2, * , Anne Passadori 3 , François Severac 4 , Alain Dieterlen 2 , Bernard Geny 1,5 and Emmanuel Andrès 1,6 1 Translational Medicine Federation of Strasbourg (FMTS), Team 3072 “Mitochondria, Oxidative Stress and Muscle Protection”, Faculty of Medicine, University of Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France; bernard.geny@chru-strasbourg.fr (B.G.); emmanuel.andres@chru-strasbourg.fr (E.A.) 2 Institut IRIMAS (7499), Institut Universitaire de Technologie, Université de Haute-Alsace, 12 Rue des Frères Lumière, 68093 Mulhouse, France; alain.dieterlen@uha.fr 3 Centre de Réadaptation de Mulhouse—CRM, 57 Rue Albert Camus, 68200 Mulhouse, France; anne.passadori@arfp.asso.fr 4 Groupe Méthodes en Recherche Clinique, Service de Santé Publique, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France; francois.severac@chru-strasbourg.fr 5 Physiology and Functional Exploration Service, University Hospital of Strasbourg, 67091 Strasbourg, France 6 Service de Médecine Interne, Diabète et Maladies Métaboliques, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France * Correspondence: jeyniver@hotmail.com Abstract: Background: Despite significant improvements in COVID-19 therapy, many patients still present with persistent symptoms and quality-of-life alterations. The aim of this study was to simul- taneously investigate the long-term evolution of autonomy, malnutrition and long-lasting symptoms in people infected with COVID-19 and hospitalized in the ICU. Method: Patients’ clinical characteris- tics; extent of their loss of autonomy based on “Autonomie Gérontologie Groupes Iso-Ressources” (AG-GIR) classification; nutritional status while following the French and Global Leadership Initia- tive on Malnutrition (GLIM) recommendations; and symptom evolutions before infection, during hospitalization and rehabilitation, and up to 6 months after returning home were determined in thirty-seven patients. Results: Prior to a COVID-19 infection, all patients were autonomous, but upon admission to the rehabilitation center (CRM), 39% of them became highly dependent. After discharge from the center and 6 months after returning home, only 6 and 3%, respectively, still required considerable assistance. Of these thirty-seven patients, 11% were moderately malnourished and 81% presented with severe malnutrition, with a significant correlation being observed between malnutrition and autonomy (p < 0.05). Except for fatigue, which persisted in 70% of the patients 6 months after discharge from rehabilitation, all other symptoms decreased significantly. Conclusions: This study shows a striking decrease in autonomy associated with malnutrition after hospitalization for a COVID-19 infection and a clear beneficial effect from personalized rehabilitation. However, although almost all patients regained autonomy 6 months after returning home, they often still suffer from fatigue. Patient compliance with their nutritional recommendations deserves further improvement, preferably through personalized and persistent follow-up with the patient. Keywords: COVID-19; rehabilitation; autonomy; malnutrition; long-haul symptoms 1. Introduction As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has spread throughout the world, research has allowed us to increase our knowledge of this virus and to optimize COVID-19 infection prevention and treatment [1]. However, to date, studies concerning the nutritional status of patients after a COVID-19 hospitalization, in the long term, are relatively few and those concerning their autonomy are even fewer [2–4]. Nutrients 2022, 14, 3027. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14153027 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients