Authors (including presenting author) :
KEUNG MYG, LEUNG CWZ, LEE KWS, CHAN CMA
Affiliation :
Physiotherapy Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Introduction :
With the increasing population in suffering from musculoskeletal dysfunction, it contributes to a great demand on rehabilitation. For acute and sub-acute condition, out-patient (OPD) Physiotherapy is arranged within 2 to 8 weeks under public hospitals in Hong Kong. In the recent outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, patients may hesitate to visit OPD and deteriorate without management.
Rehabilitation function under mobile application ‘HA Go’ is designed to empower patients to manage their own health. It allows patients to follow the homed-based exercise program prescribed by Physiotherapists.
Objectives :
To evaluate the benefits of prescribing an exercise program via ‘HA-Go’ to patients with acute neck or back pain when waiting for the first OPD Physiotherapy appointment after discharge from an acute hospital.
Methodology :
Patients with acute neck or back pain discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital from September to November 2020 were included. Patients suffered from road traffic accident or injury on duty were excluded. An individualized exercise program was prescribed to patients via ‘HA Go’ by Physiotherapists according to their condition upon discharge. Patients were encouraged to have home exercise by following the video demonstration. Telephone follow up was arranged weekly until the first OPD Physiotherapy appointment. Outcome measures included pain on movement on Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), overall improvement in percentage and number of OPD Physiotherapy session attended.
Result & Outcome :
Nine patients were recruited. Seven patients and 2 patients were suffered from back and neck pain respectively. Compared their condition upon discharge to the first OPD Physiotherapy appointment, there was a significant improvement in pain (p=0.01). The mean pain level upon movement on NPRS reduced 74.5% from 4.78 to 1.22. All patients reported a positive feedback with an average of 81% overall improvement. Five out of 9 patients (67%) could finish the course of OPD Physiotherapy within 2 sessions.
This preliminary pilot demonstrated that prescribing an exercise program via ‘HA Go’ improved the pain and overall condition in patients with acute neck or back pain. More than a half of patients could finish the course of OPD Physiotherapy within 2 sessions which can ease the burden of OPD Physiotherapy. Further study with larger sample sizes are warrant to evaluate the effectiveness for patients suffered from different conditions.
