Remotely delivered physical therapist-prescribed exercises for people with knee osteoarthritis: new perspectives

• Grant number: 19/24473-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: January 13, 2020
• End date: December 23, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Tania de Fatima Salvini
• Grantee: Ana Elisa Serafim Jorge
• Supervisor: Rana Hinman
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Melbourne, Australia
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/00062-7 - DOES THE LASER THERAPY ASSOCIATED WITH THERAPEUTIC EXERCISES IMPROVE PAIN AND FUNCTION OF PATIENTS WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS? - A RANDOMIZED CONTROLED TRIAL, BP.PD

Abstract

The prevalence of KOA among population is rapidly increasing as the expectation of life is ascending and the obesity epidemic worldwide is growing. Thus, accessible treatments are needed to manage knee osteoarthritis (KOA) on clinical settings. A study has found that the main barriers for patients to perform specific prescribed exercises from a physical therapist (PT) are the cost of treatments, transport issues, and geographic location. In Brazil we face the same problem, as its territory is extensive and not all people with KOA have access to effective treatments due to socioeconomic disadvantage and geographical distribution. Therefore, this study intends to go through the implementation of telerehabilitation services (e.g. therapeutic exercises) by understanding the patients and PT perceptions of and willingness to use such remote health service. To the best of our knowledge, it seems that this is the first study which intends to evaluate Brazilian population regarding those aspects. (AU)