Therapeutic Approaches Used by Patients With Post-COVID Syndrome and Their Perceived Effectiveness (N = 499)
| Therapeutic Approach | Patients Mentioning Approach, No. | Patients Rating Approach, No. | No. (%) of Ratings Good/Very Gooda |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nutritional supplements (eg, vitamins B, C, D) | 267 | 54 | 15 (27.3) |
| Sports/exercise | 142 | 68 | 23 (33.8) |
| Mind-body medicine (eg, yoga, tai chi) | 114 | 38 | 22 (57.9) |
| Rest | 74 | 42 | 20 (47.6) |
| Cortisone/corticosteroids (inhaled, oral, or topical) | 73 | 43 | 17 (39.5) |
| Other medications (eg, β-blockers, cold remedies) | 70 | 31 | 17 (54.8) |
| Physiotherapy | 70 | 31 | 15 (48.4) |
| Pain medication | 56 | 26 | 7 (26.9) |
| Phytotherapy/herbal medication | 53 | 18 | 9 (50.0) |
| Respiratory therapy | 52 | 26 | 18 (69.2) |
| Rehabilitation | 51 | 23 | 12 (52.2) |
| Medical consultation | 45 | 13 | 3 (23.1) |
| Manual medicine | 42 | 26 | 12 (46.2) |
| Psychotherapy | 36 | 21 | 10 (47.6) |
| Inhalants (noncortisone) | 35 | 13 | 8 (61.5) |
| Other (eg, mouthwash, singing) | 32 | 17 | 8 (47.1) |
| Dietary change | 31 | 14 | 7 (50.0) |
| Other physical therapy (eg, thermotherapy, contrast bath therapy) | 29 | 9 | 5 (55.6) |
| Occupational therapy | 27 | 14 | 6 (42.9) |
| Homeopathy | 26 | 16 | 4 (25.0) |
| Memory training/concentration exercises | 26 | 14 | 4 (28.6) |
| Olfactory training | 26 | 20 | 3 (15.0) |
| CIM generally, other CIM approaches (eg, neural therapy, Ayurveda) | 23 | 12 | 6 (50.0) |
| Acupuncture/acupressure | 22 | 9 | 4 (44.4) |
| Psychotropic drugs | 15 | 7 | 2 (28.6) |
| Traditional Chinese medicine/pharmacotherapy | 13 | 4 | 0 (0.0) |
| Massage | 12 | 6 | 2 (33.3) |
| Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 | 9 | 8 | 7 (87.5) |
| Aromatherapy | 9 | 3 | 2 (66.7) |
| Speech therapy | 8 | 6 | 3 (50.0) |
CIM = complementary and integrative medicine.
Notes: Therapeutic approaches are sorted in descending order according to how many patients mentioned them (first column). Multiple responses were possible. Bold denotes therapeutic approaches for which more than 50% of ratings were very good or good.
↵a Rating of 4 or 5 on the 5-point Likert scale.