The Impact of a mHealth Application on Outpatient Physical Therapy HEP Adherence and Outcomes: A RCT

Outpatient physical therapy is an integral aspect in combating the impairment and dysfunction associated with musculoskeletal injuries. Healthcare and insurance restrictions are leading to reduced clinic visits, encouraging efficient and effective treatments and focusing a greater demand on education, proactive wellness and home exercise maintenance. Home exercise prescription has long been a fundamental aspect to a physical therapy routine or regimen. It is well established that exercise protocols can positively impact pain, fitness levels, physical function and measures of life quality (Forkan, Pumper, Smyth, Wirkkala, A Ciol, & Shumway-Cook, 2006). It is also recognized that treatment outcomes may be negatively impacted by non-adherence to the prescribed exercise recommendation in rehabilitation (Holden, Haywood, Portia, Gee, & Mclean, 2014). Research historically suggests that levels of non-adherence to exercise prescription range from 50-70% (Bassett, 2003; Sluijs, Kok, & van der Zee, 1993), and likely increase as time passes. Investigating non-adherence demonstrates a myriad of influencing factors. These factors can be characterized as motivators and barriers. With the explosion of mobile communications access and increasing number of active device users, healthcare is embarking on the concept of mobile health management. Mobile health interventions have been found to have a positive impact in the arenas of medication compliance, weight loss, chronic disease management and postoperative complication (Lee, 2016; Ronghua, Li, (2015).The implementation of a mobile health application in physical therapy outpatient management has not been well established. It is time to investigate the impact of using a mobile health application on a prescribed physical therapy treatment regimen for the enhancement of HEP adherence and functional outcome assessment.

Inclusion criteria

• Any musculoskeletal pathology: spine, UE, LE
• Age18 or older
• Primary language is English. Ability to read, write and understand the English language
• Ownership of mobile smart phone
• Functional and cognitive ability to operate/manipulate a mobile media application
• Willingness to use their data package for support/use of mobile application

Exclusion criteria

Following the initial screening criteria, the study population will be scrutinized for exclusion.

Exclusion criteria

• History of neurological pathology with neurological impairments
• Impaired cognition
• Difficulty with operation and manipulation of mobile application
• Difficulty with directions as set forth by the intake The exclusion criteria will be screened by written intake and a traditional medical history by the primary researcher. Subject enrollment will commence after eligibility is met and informed consent received.