Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare > Volume 15, Number 5 > Pp. 215-220

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RESEARCH Original articles

Physiotherapy at a distance: a controlled study of rehabilitation at home after a shoulder joint operation

Lisbeth Eriksson ^* , Britta Lindström , Gunvor Gard  and Jack Lysholm 

^* Department of Physiotherapy, Sunderby Hospital, Department of Science of Health, Luleå University of Technology; Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physiotherapy, Umeå University; Department of Science of Health, Luleå University of Technology; Department of Orthopaedics, Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Umeå University, Sweden

Correspondence: Lisbeth Eriksson, Department of Physiotherapy, Sunderby Hospital, 971 80 Luleå, Sweden (Fax: +46 920 283 725; Email: lisbeth.eriksson{at}ltu.se)

We explored the benefit of video communication in home rehabilitation after shoulder joint replacement and compared it to referral for physiotherapy in the conventional way. A total of 22 patients were included in the study. The intervention group (n = 10) had training at home under the supervision of a physiotherapist at the hospital using videoconferencing. The control group (n = 12) had physiotherapy training in a conventional way in their home town. All patients had the same postoperative, three-phase-programme for two months. The outcome measures were a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain, range of motion (ROM), shoulder function ability (Constant score and SRQ-S) and health-related quality of life (SF-36). Questions about areas of priority for improvement and general satisfaction with the shoulder were also included. The telemedicine group received a greater number of treatments compared to the control group. After the intervention, there were significant improvements in VAS-pain, Constant score and SRQ-S for both groups. The telemedicine group improved significantly more in all three measurements than the control group (P < 0.001 for all). When changes from baseline to follow-up were compared, the telemedicine group improved significantly more in terms of decrease in pain (P = 0.004) and vitality (P = 0.001) than the control group. Despite some limitations, there seem to be clear benefits from physiotherapy at a distance with a telemedicine technique that allows patients to obtain access to physiotherapy at home.

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