COVID-19, a disease resulting from infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which can determine several sequelae, including a significant physical-functional deficit. In this sense, rehabilitation becomes essential and part of the recovery process of affected individuals, regardless of the severity of the clinical presentation. Proprioceptive training can increase the effectiveness of rehabilitation for these patients, as it is a combination of balance training and functional capacity training, promoting important results.

To verify the effect of proprioceptive training on the muscle strength of individuals with acute post-COVID-19 sequelae.

Randomized controlled clinical trial. The volunteers were divided into 2 groups: Intervention Group (IG=28) and Control Group (GC=27). Three assessments were performed: initial assessment (TO), reassessment (T1) in the 6th session, and reassessment in the 12th session (T2). Sociodemographic data, muscle strength of the upper limbs by manual dynamometry and lower limbs by measuring functional mobility through the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) were collected. The intervention program lasted 6 weeks, including physical training (twice a week for 60 minutes), divided into five phases: warm-up (10 minutes) involving joint mobility, stretching and breathing techniques; resistance training (20 minutes) walking; strength training (10 minutes) consisting of 7 exercises, with 2 sets of 10 repetitions for upper and lower limb muscle groups, using elastic bands, weights, graded according to the patient's capacity; balance training (10 minutes) consisting of static and dynamic exercises organized in 4 levels; and post-workout (10 minutes) composed of effort similar to warm-up. Descriptive statistics of the results were performed in the form of graphs of mean and standard deviation, for qualitative variables. When comparing manual dynamometry and TUG, an intention-to-treat analysis approach was used.

In manual dynamometry, it was observed that the GI presented 35.4+3.00kgf (MSE) in (T0) and 37.05+11.249kgf (MSE) in (T2). Regarding the performance in the TUG, in the GI individuals there was an improvement that varied from 7.67 seconds (T0) to 6.775 seconds (T2).

Individuals submitted to 6 weeks of proprioceptive training, showed an increase in the muscle strength of the UL and LL.

These data are important to better prevent functional repercussions in COVID-19 survivors; showing the benefits of proprioceptive training in gaining muscle strength and improving functional capacity inherent to rehabilitation programs for this population.