Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Aging
Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2022
Date Accepted: Oct 25, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Acceptability of an online dual cognitive and motor exercise program for Individuals with Parkinson’s disease – The PD3 Move program
ABSTRACT
Background:
Dual task training is an emerging field used in People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) to improve physical and cognitive wellbeing but patient´s acceptability, safety and adherence to such trainings in online settings is unknown.
Objective:
To evaluate the acceptability of a dual task cognitive and motor online training program for people with PD as a group online community program.
Methods:
People with PD were invited to participate in an online program (PD3 Move) consisting of physical and vocal exercise in response to different cognitive challenges displayed as dynamic backgrounds on Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc). The program ran twice per week for 16 weeks. Patient acceptability was assessed at 4 months by monitoring attendance rates and feedback from an exit questionnaire e-mailed to all participants assessing satisfaction, perceived benefit, safety, and willingness to continue and recommend to others.
Results:
The online program was delivered to 15 participants (9 female) with a diagnosis of PD, mean age of 69.4 ± 9.3 years, Hoehn & Yahr I-IV. Attendance rate was high with participants coming to more than 81% of the classes. Participants were “very satisfied” (53.3%) or “satisfied” (46.6%) with the program. Participants reported that what they most liked were the new cognitive physical challenges. The three main facilitators to participate included: perceiving the benefits, instructors’ flexibility, and engagement, and the social interaction moments with others. The three main difficulties were dealing with motor fluctuations (3, 20%), difficulties in utilizing technology (2, 13.3%), and difficulty hearing instructions due to hearing loss (2, 13.3%). Patients had favorable perceived benefit of the program, with 93.3% considering it very useful for the current management of health and 7.7% moderately useful. No adverse events were reported, and all referred that they were willing to continue and recommend it to others.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that the online cognitive and motor program was well-received, safe and perceived to be of benefit to this group of medically stable people with PD in Hoehn & Yahr I-IV. Access to specialized care and enhancement of long-term adherence to regular exercise can be achieved with online community group programs. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
Citation
