## 3 Results  
In this observational study, laboratory variables and clinical characteristics of 45 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were evaluated, considering the two physiotherapeutic procedures (mild physiotherapy vs. active physiotherapy). The median age of the patients was 65.03 years old. Forty-four percent of the male patients participated in light physiotherapy and 24% in active physiotherapy. In the case of females, 35% participated in light physiotherapy and 28% in active physiotherapy. Following clinical examination, it was observed that 53% of the total number of patients included in the study had symptoms of dry cough on admission and 66% of dyspnea. The investigated patients display a series of comorbidities, the most common being gastric ulcer (\(n=14\)), duodenal ulcer (\(n=18\)), and cirrhosis (\(n=10\)) (Table 1). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Characteristics**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Patients (N = 45)**} & **Mild** & **Active Physiotherapy** & **No** & \multirow{2}{*}{**\(p\)**} \\  & & **Physiotherapy** & **(\%)** & **Physiotherapy (\%)** & & \\ \hline Male & 28 & 49 & 24 & 27 & 0.13 \\ \hline Female & 17 & 35 & 28 & 37 & 0.14 \\ \hline Median age (years) & 65 & 66 & 68 & 58 & 0.54 \\ \hline Dry cough at admission & 25 & 40 & 28 & 32 & 0.50 \\ \hline Dry cough at discharge & 6 & 0 & 0 & 100 & - \\ \hline Dyspnea at admission & 30 & 42 & 31 & 27 & 0.10 \\ \hline Dyspnea at discharge & 5 & 4 & 0 & 96 & - \\ \hline Gastric ulcer & 14 & 22 & 15 & 63 & 0.62 \\ \hline Duodenal ulcer & 18 & 33 & 26 & 41 & 0.23 \\ \hline Cirrhosis & 10 & 22 & 8 & 70 & 0.03 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Demographic and clinical characteristics of study participants. The biochemical parameters of the patients included in the study showed values above the reference range for ferritin, IL-6, and CRP, but which significantly decreased from hospital admission to discharge (Table 2). With the help of the statistical processing program of experimental data Statistica 10, the biochemical profile and the clinical variables for the patient included in the study (that participated or did not in physiotherapy procedures) were followed. The discriminant analysis regarding 45 investigated patients and 14 characteristics highlighted 4 representative parameters for this model, which significantly contribute to the separation of the investigated classes: mild physiotherapy/active physiotherapy/no physiotherapy. Based on the statistical results, it can be concluded that IL-6 at admission (\(F\) = 23.61; \(p\) = 0.0001), CRP at discharge (\(F\) = 7.19; \(p\) = 0.003), dyspnea at discharge (\(F\) = 5.95, \(p\) = 0.05), and dry cough on discharge (\(F\) = 92.27; \(p\) = 0.000) were the parameters with the greatest importance for discriminating the three investigated classes (mild physiotherapy/active physiotherapy/no physiotherapy) in patients with COVID-19 (Table 3). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Parameter** & **Phase of Treatment** & **Mean** & **Median** & **Standard Deviation** & **Min.** & **Max.** \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Ferritin (ng/mL)} & hospitalization & 1933.88 & 856.00 & 2420.94 & 45.00 & 9801.00 \\ \cline{2-7}  & discharge & 85.97 & 69.50 & 73.21 & 12.30 & 475.00 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{IL-6 (pg/mL)} & hospitalization & 181.68 & 78.50 & 322.77 & 4.56 & 1491.00 \\ \cline{2-7}  & discharge & 19.57 & 12.50 & 21.31 & 5.09 & 89.54 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CRP (mg/L)} & hospitalization & 104.60 & 95.58 & 79.01 & 12.30 & 486.00 \\ \cline{2-7}  & discharge & 16.60 & 8.90 & 17.18 & 1.06 & 73.37 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Pulse} & hospitalization & 100.37 & 96.00 & 19.04 & 69.00 & 145.00 \\ \cline{2-7}  & discharge & 74.50 & 72.00 & 10.70 & 56.00 & 100.00 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Oxygen saturation} & hospitalization & 94.19 & 95.00 & 3.73 & 85.00 & 98.00 \\ \cline{2-7}  & discharge & 97.77 & 98.00 & 1.11 & 94.00 & 99.00 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Biological parameters of study participants.