The Effect of Chinese Medicine for Rehabilitation of Discharged COVID-19 Patients: A Protocol for Multi-Center Observational Study

The COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for more than 16 months, and there have been over 169 million confirmed cases worldwide. Besides, after treatment with Western medicine or undergoing home quarantine, COVID-19 patients are still severely or mildly functionally impaired. Though COVID-19 patients were discharged from the hospital, most of them still exhibit certain clinical symptoms such as fatigue, poor appetite, shortness of breath, and poor sleep. The syndromes, linked with the Chinese Medicine (CM) body constitutions, could be due to pre-COVID-19 infections, suffering from the infection, or a post-infection consequence. CM has been used by humans for thousands of years in Asia, especially in Hong Kong, and it is gaining increasing attention and popularity. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of CM on alleviating the clinical symptoms of the discharged COVID-19 Patients. This was a multicenter observational and comparative study. One hundred and fifty participants discharged from Hong Kong hospitals were recruited. The patients received three to six months of treatment using CM and were assessed by questionnaires and lung function tests each month during the treatment period and on the 9th month follow-up visit. In light of this global pandemic, we hope this study will bring new opportunities for CM, and facilitate patient recovery and rehabilitation. We believe that this may be the key to promoting rehabilitation.