Characteristics of the included studies
| Author (year) | N | Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria | Intervention | Duration | Outcome measures | Result |
| Li et al (2021)21 | CG=61 IG=59 | SARS-CoV-2 infection, 18–75 years, available smartphone and moderate dyspnoea | Resting heart rate over 100 /min, other cardiovascular coinfections or treatments, enrolled in other trials, cognitive impairment, uncooperative or unable to self-walk | Telerehabilitation: breathing control and thoracic expansion exercises, aerobic exercise and LMS exercise; 40–60 min per session; 3–4 sessions per week Control group: education | 6 weeks | 6MWT, LMS, FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, MVV, PEF, SF-12 PCS, SF-12 MCS and mMRC dyspnoea | Pulmonary telerehabilitation better than no rehabilitation |
| Rodríguez-Blanco et al (2021)−122 | CG=22 BG=29 | 18–75 years old, positive COVID-19 and acute phase and able to do home confinement | Chronic lung, kidney and neurological disorders, chronic mental and/or psychological and/or hypertension, and cardiovascular conditions, grade III osteoporosis, acute phase of rheumatological and disc abnormalities | Home-based rehabilitation: BG: 10 exercises based on the ACBT, daily for 14 days Control group: no intervention | 2 weeks | VAFS, 6MWT, 30STST, MD12 and BS | BG obtained significant improvements |
| Rodriguez-Blanco et al (2021)−223 | CG=18 IG=18 | 18–75 years, positive SARS-CoV-2 and were in home confinement | Chronic lung, kidney and neurological disorders; patients with hypertension and cardiovascular conditions without medical treatment; patients with conditions that prevent movement; any interference in any other treatment | Telerehabilitation: non-specific toning exercises of resistance and strength, once a day for 7 days Control group: no intervention | 1 week | 6MWT, 30STST and BS | Therapeutic exercise improves physical condition outcomes |
| Gonzalez-Gerez et al (2021)24 | CG=19 IG=19 | 18–75 years and positive SARS-CoV-2 | Any chronic disease or condition that prevents doing exercise based on patients’ report | Telerehabilitation: based on breathing exercises Control group: no intervention | 1 week | 6MWT, MD12, 30STST and BS | Breathing exercises improve physical condition, dyspnoea and perceived effort |
ACBT, active cycle of breathing technique; BG, breathing exercise group; BS, Borg Scale; CG, control group; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC, forced vital capacity; IG, intervention group; LMS, lower limb muscle strength; MCS, Mental Component Score; MD12, Multidimensional Dyspnoea-12; mMRC, modified Medical Research Council; MVV, maximum voluntary ventilation; 6MWT, 6-minute walking test; PCS, Physical Component Score; PEF, peak expiratory flow; SF-12, Short Form-12; 30STST, 30-second sit-to-stand test; VAFS, Visual Analogue Fatigue Scale.