Efectividad de una aplicación de telerrehabilitación para tableta en pacientes con fractura de extremo distal del radio

Introduction

To assess whether, in patients with distal radius fracture feedback-guided exercises performed on a tablet touchscreen reduce healthcare usage and improve clinical recovery, more than the conventional home exercise program prescribed on paper.

Material and methods

A multicentre, parallel, two-group, pragmatic, controlled trial with assessor blinding and intention-to-treat analysis. Forty-six patients with distal radius fracture were recruited in Andalusian Public Health System. Participants in the experimental and control groups received the same in-patient physiotherapy sessions. Experimental group received a home exercise program using the ReHand tablet application and control group received an evidence-based home exercise program on paper. The primary outcome was the number of physiotherapy sessions tallied from hospitals data management system. Secondary outcomes included: the face-to-face rehabilitation consultations with a physiatrist, and clinical outcomes such as functional ability, grip strength, dexterity, pain intensity and range of motion.

Results

The experimental group required fewer physiotherapy sessions (MD: −16.94; 95% CI: −32.5 to −1.38) and rehabilitation consultations (MD: −1.7; 95% CI: −3.39 to −0.02) compared to the control group.

Conclusions

In patients with distal radius fracture, prescribing feedback-guided exercises performed on a tablet touchscreen provided by ReHand reduced number of physiotherapy sessions and rehabilitation consultations.