Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies
Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2020
Date Accepted: Dec 5, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Dec 6, 2020
An Affordable, User-Friendly Telerehabilitation System Assembled Using Existing Technologies for Individuals Isolated Due to COVID-19: A Feasibility Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Isolation due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection can limit activities and cause physical and mental decline, especially in the elderly and disabled. However, due to limited contact, adequate rehabilitation is difficult to provide for quarantined patients. Telerehabilitation technology could be a solution; however, the low digital literacy of these vulnerable populations could hinder their use. We have combined existing resources to create a telerehabilitation system that allows for easy remote rehabilitation of individuals who are unfamiliar with digital devices.
Objective:
This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of a telerehabilitation system developed for quarantined patients due to COVID-19 by combining existing commercial devices and computer applications.
Methods:
Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 (N=10; mean age of 60 ± 18) and quarantined in a university hospital were included in this study. A single session of telerehabilitation using a system developed for quarantined patients was conducted. The system included a tablet computer, a pulse oximeter, a video conferencing software, and a remote-control software, which were combined to be safely and easily used by elderly or disabled patients who may be unfamiliar with digital devices. The feasibility of the system was evaluated using the Telemedicine Satisfaction Questionnaire (TSQ; 14 items) and an additional questionnaire on the telerehabilitation system (5 items), which were administered after the end of the program. Each item was rated from “1 = strongly disagree” to “5 = strongly agree”.
Results:
Out of 10 patients, 9 were able to use the telerehabilitation system without any on-site help. On the TSQ, the mean score for each item was 4.7 ± 0.7, and in the additional items regarding telerehabilitation, the mean score for each item was 4.3 ± 1.0.
Conclusions:
These findings support the overall feasibility of this simple telerehabilitation system in quarantined patients with COVID-19, encouraging further development and implementation of telerehabilitation in clinical practice.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.