{"title":"The Effect of a Mobile Health App on Treatment Adherence and Revenue at Physical Health Clinics: Retrospective Record Review.","authors":"Robert Topp, Jay Greenstein, Jena Etnoyer-Slaski","doi":"10.2196/43507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/43507","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A significant number of patients do not adhere to their prescribed course of physical therapy or discharge themselves from care. Adhering to prescribed physical therapy, including attending physical therapy clinic appointments, contributes to patients achieving the goals of therapy including reducing pain and increasing functionality. Web-based platforms have been demonstrated to be effective means for managing clinical patients with musculoskeletal pain, similar to managing them in person. Behavior change techniques introduced through digital or web-based platforms can reduce nonadherence with prescribed physical therapy and improve patient outcomes. Literature also indicates that a phone-based app provided to patients, which includes a reward-incentive gamification to complement their care, contributed to a greater number of kept appointments in a physical therapy clinic.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to compare the rate of provider discharge with self-discharge and the number of clinic visits among patients attending a physical health clinic who did and did not choose to adopt a phone-based app to complement their care. A secondary purpose was to compare the revenue generated by patients attending a physical health clinic who did and did not choose to adopt a phone-based app to complement their care.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective analysis of all new outpatient medical records (N=5328) from a multisite physical health practice was conducted between January 2018 and December 2019. Patients in the sample self-selected the 2018 Usual Care, the 2019 Usual Care, or the 2019 Kanvas App groups. Kanvas is a customized private practice app, designed for patient engagement with their specific health care provider. This app included a gamification system that provided rewards to the patient for attending their scheduled clinic appointments. According to their medical record, each patient was classified as completing their prescribed therapy (provider discharged) or not completing their prescribed therapy (self-discharged). Additionally, the total number of clinic visits each patient attended, the total charges for services, and the total payments received by the clinic per patient were extracted from each patient's medical record.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Patients in the 2019 Kanvas App Group exhibited a higher rate of provider discharge compared to patients who did not adopt the app. This greater rate of provider discharges among the patients who adopted the Kanvas app likely contributed to this group attending more clinic visits (13.21, SD 12.09) than the other study groups who did not download the app (10.72, SD 9.80 to 11.35, SD 11.10). This greater number of clinic visits in turn contributed to the patients who adopted the app generating more clinic charges and payments.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Future investigators need to employ more rigorous methods to confirm ","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e43507"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10131932/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9709604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Giulio E Lancioni, Nirbhay N Singh, Mark F O'Reilly, Jeff Sigafoos, Gloria Alberti, Valeria Chiariello, Lorenzo Desideri, Serafino Buono
{"title":"Low-Cost Technology-Aided Programs for Supporting People With Motor, Visual, and Intellectual Disabilities in Functional Forms of Occupation and Communication: Proof-of-Concept Study.","authors":"Giulio E Lancioni, Nirbhay N Singh, Mark F O'Reilly, Jeff Sigafoos, Gloria Alberti, Valeria Chiariello, Lorenzo Desideri, Serafino Buono","doi":"10.2196/44239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/44239","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>People with motor, visual, and intellectual disabilities may have serious problems in independently accessing various forms of functional daily occupation and communication.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The study was aimed at developing and assessing new, low-cost technology-aided programs to help people with motor or visual-motor and intellectual disabilities independently engage in functional forms of occupation and communication with distant partners.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Two programs were set up using a smartphone interfaced with a 2-switch device and a tablet interfaced with 2 pressure sensors, respectively. Single-subject research designs were used to assess (1) the first program with 2 participants who were blind, had moderate hand control, and were interested in communicating with distant partners through voice messages; and (2) the second program with 2 participants who possessed functional vision, had no or poor hand control, and were interested in communicating with their partners through video calls. Both programs also supported 2 forms of occupational engagement, that is, choosing and accessing preferred leisure events consisting of songs and music videos, and listening to brief stories about relevant daily topics and answering questions related to those stories.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>During the baseline phase (when only a conventional smartphone or tablet was available), 2 participants managed sporadic access to leisure or leisure and communication events. The other 2 participants did not show any independent leisure or communication engagement. During the intervention (when the technology-aided programs were used), all participants managed to independently engage in multiple leisure and communication events throughout the sessions and to listen to stories and answer story-related questions.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The findings, which need to be interpreted with caution given the nature of the study and the small number of participants, seem to suggest that the new programs may be viable tools for helping people with motor or visual-motor and intellectual disabilities independently access leisure, communication, and other forms of functional engagement.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e44239"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10131918/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9710116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Churchill, Mary Morrow, Jacob J Capin, Sarah E Jolley, Kristine Hare, Samantha MaWhinney, Jennifer E Stevens-Lapsley, Kristine M Erlandson
{"title":"Using Wearable Technology to Quantify Physical Activity Recovery: Secondary Report From the AFTER (App-Facilitated Tele-Rehabilitation) Program for COVID-19 Survivors Randomized Study.","authors":"Laura Churchill, Mary Morrow, Jacob J Capin, Sarah E Jolley, Kristine Hare, Samantha MaWhinney, Jennifer E Stevens-Lapsley, Kristine M Erlandson","doi":"10.2196/43436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/43436","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Knowledge on physical activity recovery after COVID-19 survival is limited. The AFTER (App-Facilitated Tele-Rehabilitation) program for COVID-19 survivors randomized participants, following hospital discharge, to either education and unstructured physical activity or a telerehabilitation program. Step count data were collected as a secondary outcome, and we found no significant differences in total step count trajectories between groups at 6 weeks. Further step count data were not analyzed.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The purpose of this analysis was to examine step count trajectories and correlates among all participants (combined into a single group) across the 12-week study period.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Linear mixed models with random effects were used to model daily steps over the number of study days. Models with 0, 1, and 2 inflection points were considered, and the final model was selected based on the highest log-likelihood value.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants included 44 adults (41 with available Fitbit [Fitbit LLC] data). Initially, step counts increased by an average of 930 (95% CI 547-1312; P<.001) steps per week, culminating in an average daily step count of 7658 (95% CI 6257-9059; P<.001) at the end of week 3. During the remaining 9 weeks of the study, weekly step counts increased by an average of 67 (95% CI -30 to 163; P<.001) steps per week, resulting in a final estimate of 8258 (95% CI 6933-9584; P<.001) steps.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Participants showed a marked improvement in daily step counts during the first 3 weeks of the study, followed by more gradual improvement in the remaining 9 weeks. Physical activity data and step count recovery trajectories may be considered surrogates for physiological recovery, although further research is needed to examine this relationship.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04663945; https://tinyurl.com/2p969ced.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e43436"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10131697/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10170800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah Munce, Angie Andreoli, Mark Bayley, Meiqi Guo, Elizabeth L Inness, Ailene Kua, McKyla McIntyre
{"title":"Clinicians' Experiences of Implementing a Telerehabilitation Toolkit During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Qualitative Descriptive Study.","authors":"Sarah Munce, Angie Andreoli, Mark Bayley, Meiqi Guo, Elizabeth L Inness, Ailene Kua, McKyla McIntyre","doi":"10.2196/44591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/44591","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid implementation and scale-up of telehealth for patients in need of rehabilitation, an overall slower scaling up to telerehabilitation has been documented.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The purpose of this study was to understand experiences of implementing telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as using the Toronto Rehab Telerehab Toolkit from the perspective of rehabilitation professionals across Canada and internationally.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study adopted a qualitative descriptive approach that consisted of telephone- or videoconference-supported interviews and focus groups. Participants included rehabilitation providers as well as health care leaders who had used the Toronto Rehab Telerehab Toolkit. Each participant took part in a semi-structured interview or focus group, lasting approximately 30-40 minutes. Thematic analysis was used to understand the barriers and enablers of providing telerehabilitation and implementing the Toronto Rehab Telerehab Toolkit. Three members of the research team independently analyzed a set of the same transcripts and met after each set to discuss their analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 22 participants participated, and 7 interviews and 4 focus groups were included. The data of participants were collected from both Canadian (Alberta, New Brunswick, and Ontario) and international sites (Australia, Greece, and South Korea). A total of 11 sites were represented, 5 of which focused on neurological rehabilitation. Participants included health care providers (ie, physicians, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, and social workers), managers and system leaders, as well as research and education professionals. Overall, 4 themes were identified including (1) implementation considerations for telerehabilitation, encompassing 2 subthemes of \"infrastructure, equipment, and space\" and \"leadership and organizational support\"; (2) innovations developed as a result of telerehabilitation; (3) the toolkit as a catalyst for implementing telerehabilitation; and (4) recommendations for improving the toolkit.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Findings from this qualitative study confirm some of the previously identified experiences with implementing telerehabilitation, but from the perspective of Canadian and international rehabilitation providers and leaders. These findings include the importance of adequate infrastructure, equipment, and space; the key role of organizational or leadership support in adopting telerehabilitation; and availing resources to implement it. Importantly, participants in our study described the toolkit as an important resource to broker networking opportunities and highlighted the need to pivot to telerehabilitation, especially early in the pandemic. Findings from this study will be used to improve the next iteration of the toolkit","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e44591"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10039414/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9187031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mirana Randriambelonoro, Caroline Perrin Franck, François Herrmann, Gorki Antonio Carmona, Antoine Geissbuhler, Christophe Graf, Emilia Frangos
{"title":"Gamified Physical Rehabilitation for Older Adults With Musculoskeletal Issues: Pilot Noninferiority Randomized Clinical Trial.","authors":"Mirana Randriambelonoro, Caroline Perrin Franck, François Herrmann, Gorki Antonio Carmona, Antoine Geissbuhler, Christophe Graf, Emilia Frangos","doi":"10.2196/39543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/39543","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Resource-rich countries are facing the challenge of aging societies, a high risk of dependence, and a high cost of care. Researchers attempted to address these issues by using cost-efficient, innovative technology to promote healthy aging and regain functionality. After an injury, efficient rehabilitation is crucial to promote returning home and prevent institutionalization. However, there is often a lack of motivation to carry out physical therapies. Consequently, there is a growing interest in testing new approaches like gamified physical rehabilitation to achieve functional targets and prevent rehospitalization.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a personal mobility device compared with standard care in the rehabilitation treatment of patients with musculoskeletal issues.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 57 patients aged 67-95 years were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=35) using the gamified rehabilitation equipment 3 times a week or to the control group (n=22) receiving usual standard care. Due to dropout, only 41 patients were included in the postintervention analysis. Outcome measures included the short physical performance battery (SPPB), isometric hand grip strength (IHGS), functional independence measure (FIM), and the number of steps.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A noninferiority related to the primary outcome (SPPB) was identified during the hospital stay, and no significant differences were found between the control and intervention groups for any of the secondary outcomes (IHGS, FIM, or steps), which demonstrates the potential of the serious game-based intervention to be as effective as the standard physical rehabilitation at the hospital. The analysis by mixed-effects regression on SPPB showed a group×time interaction (SPPB_I_t1=-0.77, 95% CI -2.03 to 0.50, P=.23; SPPB_I_t2=0.21, 95% CI -1.07 to 0.48, P=.75). Although not significant, a positive IHGS improvement of more than 2 kg (Right: 2.52 kg, 95% CI -0.72 to 5.37, P=.13; Left: 2.43 kg, 95% CI -0.18 to 4.23, P=.07) for the patient from the intervention group was observed.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Serious game-based rehabilitation could potentially be an effective alternative for older patients to regain their functional capacities.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03847454; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03847454.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e39543"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10029857/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9214054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert P Spang, Christine Haeger, Sandra A Mümken, Max Brauer, Jan-Niklas Voigt-Antons, Paul Gellert
{"title":"Smartphone Global Positioning System-Based System to Assess Mobility in Health Research: Development, Accuracy, and Usability Study.","authors":"Robert P Spang, Christine Haeger, Sandra A Mümken, Max Brauer, Jan-Niklas Voigt-Antons, Paul Gellert","doi":"10.2196/42258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/42258","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>As global positioning system (GPS) measurement is getting more precise and affordable, health researchers can now objectively measure mobility using GPS sensors. Available systems, however, often lack data security and means of adaptation and often rely on a permanent internet connection.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To overcome these issues, we aimed to develop and test an easy-to-use, easy-to-adapt, and offline working app using smartphone sensors (GPS and accelerometry) for the quantification of mobility parameters.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An Android app, a server backend, and a specialized analysis pipeline have been developed (development substudy). Parameters of mobility by the study team members were extracted from the recorded GPS data using existing and newly developed algorithms. Test measurements were performed with participants to complete accuracy and reliability tests (accuracy substudy). Usability was examined by interviewing community-dwelling older adults after 1 week of device use, followed by an iterative app design process (usability substudy).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study protocol and the software toolchain worked reliably and accurately, even under suboptimal conditions, such as narrow streets and rural areas. The developed algorithms had high accuracy (97.4% correctness, F<sub>1</sub>-score=0.975) in distinguishing dwelling periods from moving intervals. The accuracy of the stop/trip classification is fundamental to second-order analyses such as the time out of home, as they rely on a precise discrimination between the 2 classes. The usability of the app and the study protocol was piloted with older adults, which showed low barriers and easy implementation into daily routines.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Based on accuracy analyses and users' experience with the proposed system for GPS assessments, the developed algorithm showed great potential for app-based estimation of mobility in diverse health research contexts, including mobility patterns of community-dwelling older adults living in rural areas.</p><p><strong>International registered report identifier (irrid): </strong>RR2-10.1186/s12877-021-02739-0.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e42258"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10020906/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9192787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Edward Giesbrecht, Mel E Major, Moni Fricke, Pamela Wener, Maarten van Egmond, Jesse J Aarden, Cara L Brown, Margriet Pol, Marike van der Schaaf
{"title":"Telerehabilitation Delivery in Canada and the Netherlands: Results of a Survey Study.","authors":"Edward Giesbrecht, Mel E Major, Moni Fricke, Pamela Wener, Maarten van Egmond, Jesse J Aarden, Cara L Brown, Margriet Pol, Marike van der Schaaf","doi":"10.2196/45448","DOIUrl":"10.2196/45448","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, telerehabilitation (TR) has been expanding to address the challenges and risks of in-person delivery. It is likely that a level of TR delivery will continue after the pandemic because of its advantages, such as reducing geographical barriers to service. Many pandemic-related TR initiatives were put in place quickly. Therefore, we have little understanding of current TR delivery, barriers and facilitators, and how therapists anticipate integrating TR into current practice. Knowing this information will allow the incorporation of competencies specifically related to the use and provision of TR into professional profiles and entry-to-practice education, thereby promoting high-quality TR care.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to obtain a descriptive overview of current TR practice among rehabilitation therapists in Canada and the Netherlands and identify perceived barriers to and facilitators of practice.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted with occupational, physical, and respiratory therapists and dietitians in Canada (in French and English) and the Netherlands (in Dutch and English) between November 2021 and March 2022. Recruitment was conducted through advertisements on social media platforms and email invitations facilitated by regulatory and professional bodies. The survey included demographic and practice setting information; whether respondents delivered TR, and if so, components of delivery; confidence and satisfaction ratings with delivery; and barriers to and facilitators of use. TR satisfaction and uptake were measured using the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire and modified Technology Acceptance Model. Data were first summarized descriptively, and then, comparisons were conducted between professions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, 723 survey responses were received, mostly from Canada (n=666, 92.1%) and occupational therapists (n=434, 60%). Only 28.1% (203/723) reported receiving specific training in TR, with 1.2% (9/723) indicating that it was part of their professional education. Approximately 19.5% (139/712) reported not using TR at all, whereas most participants (366/712, 51.4%) had been using this approach for 1 to 2 years. Services delivered were primarily teleconsultation and teletreatment with individuals. Respondents offering TR were moderately satisfied with their service delivery and found it to be effective; 90.1% (498/553) indicated that they were likely to continue offering TR after the pandemic. Technology access, confidence, and setup were rated the highest as facilitators, whereas technology issues and the clinical need for physical contact were the most common barriers.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Professional practice and experience with TR were similar in both countries, suggesting the potential for common strategic approaches. The high prevalence of current pr","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e45448"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9989917/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10869464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction in Endurance Runners Using Wearable Technology as a Clinical Monitoring Tool: Systematic Review. (Preprint)","authors":"Stuart Evans","doi":"10.2196/46067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/46067","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135743968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aline Paula Miozzo, Natiele Camponogara Righi, Maria Luiza Yumi Shizukuishi, Hérica Marques Ferreira, Juliessa Florian, Scheila da Costa Machado, Jociane Schardong, Rodrigo Della Méa Plentz
{"title":"A Telerehabilitation Program for Maintaining Functional Capacity in Patients With Chronic Lung Diseases During a Period of COVID-19 Social Isolation: Quasi-Experimental Retrospective Study.","authors":"Aline Paula Miozzo, Natiele Camponogara Righi, Maria Luiza Yumi Shizukuishi, Hérica Marques Ferreira, Juliessa Florian, Scheila da Costa Machado, Jociane Schardong, Rodrigo Della Méa Plentz","doi":"10.2196/40094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/40094","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pulmonary diseases represent a great cause of disability and mortality in the world, and given the progression of these pathologies, pulmonary rehabilitation programs have proven to be effective for people with chronic respiratory diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, telerehabilitation has become an alternative for patients with such diseases.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes (ie, functional capacity and quality of life) of telerehabilitation to those of usual care among patients who previously participated in face-to-face pulmonary rehabilitation programs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a quasi-experimental retrospective study from April 2020 to August 2021. A total of 32 patients with chronic lung diseases were included and divided into the control and intervention groups. The intervention group performed telerehabilitation synchronously twice per week and was supervised by a physical therapist during breathing, strengthening, and aerobic exercises. Changes in the degree of dyspnea and leg discomfort were assessed based on changes in Borg scale scores. The control group did not perform any activities during the period of social isolation. Functional capacity was assessed with the 6-minute walk test, and quality of life was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The telerehabilitation group's mean 6-minute walk distance decreased by 39 m, while that of the control group decreased by 120 m. There was a difference of 81 m between the groups' mean 6-minute walk distances (P=.02). In relation to the quality of life, telerehabilitation was shown to improve the following two domains: social functioning and mental health.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Telerehabilitation programs for patients with chronic lung diseases can ease the deleterious effects of disease progression, be used to maintain functional capacity, and improve aspects of quality of life.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"9 4","pages":"e40094"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9795598/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10452538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Annina Fahr, Julia Balzer, Jeffrey W Keller, Hubertus J A van Hedel
{"title":"Playfully Assessing Lower Extremity Selective Voluntary Motor Control in Children With Cerebral Palsy: Psychometric Study.","authors":"Annina Fahr, Julia Balzer, Jeffrey W Keller, Hubertus J A van Hedel","doi":"10.2196/39687","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/39687","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Objective measures specifically assessing selective voluntary motor control are scarce. Therefore, we have developed an interval-scaled assessment based on accelerometers.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study provided a preliminary evaluation of the validity and reliability of this novel gamelike assessment measuring lower limb selective voluntary motor control in children with cerebral palsy (CP).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Children with CP and their neurologically intact peers were recruited for this psychometric evaluation of the assessgame. The participants played the assessgame and steered an avatar by selective hip, knee, or ankle joint movements captured with accelerometers. The assessgame's scores provide information about the accuracy of the selective movement of the target joint and the amplitude and frequency of involuntary movements occurring in uninvolved joints. We established discriminative validity by comparing the assessgame scores of the children with CP with those of the neurologically intact children, concurrent validity by correlations with clinical scores and therapists' opinions, and relative and absolute test-retest reliability.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We included 20 children with CP (mean age 12 years and 5 months, SD 3 years and 4 months; Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I to IV) and 31 neurologically intact children (mean age 11 years and 1 month, SD 3 years and 6 months). The assessgame could distinguish between the children with CP and neurologically intact children. The correlations between the assessgame's involuntary movement score and the therapist's rating of the occurrence of involuntary movements during the game were moderate (Spearman ρ=0.56; P=.01), whereas the correlations of the assessgame outcomes with the Selective Control Assessment of the Lower Extremity and Gross Motor Function Classification System were low and not significant (|ρ|≤0.39). The intraclass correlation coefficients were >0.85 and indicated good relative test-retest reliability. Minimal detectable changes amounted to 25% (accuracy) and 44% (involuntary movement score) of the mean total scores. The percentage of children able to improve by the minimal detectable change without reaching the maximum score was 100% (17/17) for the accuracy score and 94% (16/17) for the involuntary movement score.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The assessgame proved reliable and showed discriminative validity in this preliminary evaluation. Concurrent validity was moderate with the therapist's opinion but relatively poor with the Selective Control Assessment of the Lower Extremity. We assume that the assessment's gamelike character demanded various other motor control aspects that are less considered in current clinical assessments.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"9 4","pages":"e39687"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9804089/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10464956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}