Effects of physical therapy delivery via home video telerehabilitation on functional and health-related quality of life outcomes

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Effects of physical therapy delivery via home
video telerehabilitation on functional and
health-related quality of life outcomes

• Charles E. Levy, MD Erin Silverman, PhD
  Huanguang Jia, PhD Meghan Geiss, MS David
  Omura, DPT, MHA

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• Aim
• To examine functional outcomes, health-related
  quality of life (HRQoL), and satisfaction in a
  group of Veterans who received physical therapy
  via an in-home video telerehabilitation program,
  the Rural Veterans TeleRehabilitation Initiative
  (RVTRI).
• Relevance
• Veterans with disabilities who live in rural
  areas face barriers to care, including long
  travel times and distances and expense.
• The Veterans Health Administration presently
  serves 3.3 million Veterans residing in rural
  localities.

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Method

• Retrospective, pre-post study design used.
• Measures obtained from 26 Veterans who received
  physical therapy in the RVTRI program between
  February 22, 2010, and April 1, 2011, were
  analyzed.
• Outcomes used Functional Independence Measure
  (FIM) Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder,
  and Hand measure Montreal Cognitive Assessment
  (MoCA) and 2-minute walk test (2MWT).
• HRQoL assessed using Veterans RAND 12-Item Health
  Survey (VR-12).
• Program satisfaction evaluated using telehealth
  satisfaction scale.

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Results

• Average length of participation 99.2 43.3 d.
• Average therapeutic sessions received 15.2
  6.0.
• Significant improvements shown in FIM, MoCA,
  2MWT, and VR-12.
• All Veterans reported satisfaction with their
  telerehabilitation experiences.
• Those enrolled in RVTRI program avoided average
  of 2,774.7 3,197.4 travel miles, 46.3 53.3 hr
  of driving tome, and 1,151.50 1,326.90 in
  travel reimbursement.

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Conclusion

• RVTRI provided an effective real-time, home-based
  physical therapy. In-home video
  telerehabilitation is a promising potential
  alternative to standard face-to-face
  rehabilitative care.