Clinical efficacy of a distance exercise protocol associated with telerehabilitation for patients with chronic knee pain: a randomized clinical trial

• Grant number: 18/19449-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2020
• End date: July 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Stela Márcia Mattiello
• Grantee: Gabriella da Silva Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Exercise is a core component of chronic knee pain care, however, access to physical therapists is still limited for many people, due to physical proximity, difficulty in paying for the service and overloading of the public system. Telerehabilitation, the use of telecommunications technology to provide rehabilitation services, can increase access to physical therapists. Objective: Investigate if a distance exercise protocol for patients with chronic knee pain has greater clinical efficacy when associated with telerehabilitation. Methods: The present study presents a randomized controlled clinical trial design. A total of 40 participants with chronic knee pain, aged 45 years or older, will be selected and randomly divided into two groups: patients submitted to telerehabilitation (GT) and control group (CG). Participants of the GT group will be submitted to exercise protocols, which must be performed for at least 3 times a week and maybe followed by the DVD or booklet. Besides, they will receive periodic phone calls in order to motivate, clarify and inform some aspects about chronic pain. The CG will perform the same exercises, but will not receive phone calls. All participants will be evaluated before and after the intervention of the following variables: body composition (bone densitometry - DXA), functional performance tests (40-meter walk test, sit-and-sit test, and stair walk-up test), questionnaires (WOMAC, EVA, adherence to treatment and self-perception). For the comparison between the groups, the unpaired t-test for each of the dependent variables will be applied. For the comparison between the collection times for the variables WOMAC, EVA, DXA and functional tests, the paired t-test will be applied. A significance level of 5% (pd0.05) will be adopted for all analyzes.