JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Home-based aerobic exercise in people with neuromuscular diseases (NMD) has benefits compared to exercise in the hospital or rehabilitation center because traveling is often cumbersome due to mobility limitations and societal costs are lower. Barriers to home-based aerobic exercise include reduced possibilities for monitoring and lack of motivation. To overcome these and other barriers we developed the ‘Keep on training with ReVi’ mobile health app (ReVi-app).

Objective:

To determine the usability of the ReVi-app.

Methods:

Patients followed a 4-month polarized home-based aerobic exercise program on a cycle or rowing ergometer, with two low-intensity sessions and one high-intensity session per week, supported by the ReVi-app. The app collected training data, including heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion, provided real-time feedback on reaching target intensity zones, and enabled monitoring via an online dashboard. Physiotherapists instructed patients on how to use the ReVi-app and supervised them during their training program. Patients and physiotherapists separately evaluated usability with self-developed questionnaires, including 9 questions on a 5-point Likert scale, covering different usability elements; efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction.

Results:

Twenty-nine ambulatory adult patients (19 women, mean ± SD age: 50.4 ± 14.2 years) with 11 different slowly progressive NMD, participated. Both patients and physiotherapists (n=10) reported that the app, in terms of its efficiency, was easy to use and had a rapid learning curve. Sixteen patients (55%) experienced one or more technical issue(s) during the course of the exercise program. In the context of effectiveness, 23 patients (81%) indicated that the app motivated them to complete the program and that it helped them to exercise within the target intensity zones. Most patients (n=19, 70%) and physiotherapists (n=6, 60%) were satisfied with the use of the app. The median attendance rate was 88% (IQR 63-98), with 76% (IQR 69-82) of the time spent within the target intensity zones. Four adverse events were reported, 3 of which were resolved without discontinuation of the exercise program.

Conclusions:

The usability of the ReVi-app was high, despite the technical issues that occurred. Further development of the app to resolve these issues is warranted before broader implementation into clinical practice.