Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled Trial
BackgroundWhile physical exercise is known to help prevent falls in the elderly, bad weather and long distance between the home and place of exercise represent substantial deterrents for the elderly to join or continue attending exercise programs outside their residence. Conventional modalities for...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2018-05-01
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| Series: | JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| Online Access: | http://mhealth.jmir.org/2018/5/e132/ |
| _version_ | 1818878315716411392 |
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| author | Hong, Jeeyoung Kong, Hyoun-Joong Yoon, Hyung-Jin |
| author_facet | Hong, Jeeyoung Kong, Hyoun-Joong Yoon, Hyung-Jin |
| author_sort | Hong, Jeeyoung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundWhile physical exercise is known to help prevent falls in the elderly, bad weather and long distance between the home and place of exercise represent substantial deterrents for the elderly to join or continue attending exercise programs outside their residence. Conventional modalities for home exercise can be helpful but do not offer direct and prompt feedback to the participant, which minimizes the benefit.
ObjectiveWe aimed to develop an elderly-friendly telepresence exercise platform and to evaluate the effects of a 12-week telepresence exercise program on fall-related risk factors in community-dwelling elderly women with a high risk of falling.
MethodsIn total, 34 women aged 68-91 years with Fall Risk Assessment scores >14 and no medical contraindication to physical training-based therapy were recruited in person from a senior citizen center. The telepresence exercise platform included a 15-inch tablet computer, custom-made peer-to-peer video conferencing server system, and broadband Internet connectivity. The Web-based program included supervised resistance exercises performed using elastic resistance bands and balance exercise for 20-40 minutes a day, three times a week, for 12 weeks. During the telepresence exercise session, each participant in the intervention group was supervised remotely by a specialized instructor who provided feedback in real time. The women in the control group maintained their lifestyle without any intervention. Fall-related physical factors (body composition and physical function parameters) and psychological factors (Korean Falls Efficacy Scale score, Fear of Falling Questionnaire score) before and after the 12-week interventional period were examined in person by an exercise specialist blinded to the group allocation scheme.
ResultsOf the 30 women enrolled, 23 completed the study. Compared to women in the control group (n=13), those in the intervention group (n=10) showed significant improvements on the scores for the chair stand test (95% confidence interval -10.45 to -5.94, P<.001), Berg Balance Scale (95% confidence interval -2.31 to -0.28, P=.02), and Fear of Falling Questionnaire (95% confidence interval 0.69-3.5, P=.01).
ConclusionsThe telepresence exercise program had positive effects on fall-related risk factors in community-dwelling elderly women with a high risk of falling. Elderly-friendly telepresence technology for home-based exercises can serve as an effective intervention to improve fall-related physical and psychological factors.
Trial RegistrationClinical Research Information Service KCT0002710; https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/en/search/ search_result_st01.jsp?seq=11246 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6zdSUEsmb) |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:12:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3a44f1fba3144d3685a6b7eaaf305670 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2291-5222 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:12:14Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| spelling | doaj.art-3a44f1fba3144d3685a6b7eaaf3056702022-12-21T20:18:05ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR mHealth and uHealth2291-52222018-05-0165e13210.2196/mhealth.9563Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled TrialHong, JeeyoungKong, Hyoun-JoongYoon, Hyung-JinBackgroundWhile physical exercise is known to help prevent falls in the elderly, bad weather and long distance between the home and place of exercise represent substantial deterrents for the elderly to join or continue attending exercise programs outside their residence. Conventional modalities for home exercise can be helpful but do not offer direct and prompt feedback to the participant, which minimizes the benefit. ObjectiveWe aimed to develop an elderly-friendly telepresence exercise platform and to evaluate the effects of a 12-week telepresence exercise program on fall-related risk factors in community-dwelling elderly women with a high risk of falling. MethodsIn total, 34 women aged 68-91 years with Fall Risk Assessment scores >14 and no medical contraindication to physical training-based therapy were recruited in person from a senior citizen center. The telepresence exercise platform included a 15-inch tablet computer, custom-made peer-to-peer video conferencing server system, and broadband Internet connectivity. The Web-based program included supervised resistance exercises performed using elastic resistance bands and balance exercise for 20-40 minutes a day, three times a week, for 12 weeks. During the telepresence exercise session, each participant in the intervention group was supervised remotely by a specialized instructor who provided feedback in real time. The women in the control group maintained their lifestyle without any intervention. Fall-related physical factors (body composition and physical function parameters) and psychological factors (Korean Falls Efficacy Scale score, Fear of Falling Questionnaire score) before and after the 12-week interventional period were examined in person by an exercise specialist blinded to the group allocation scheme. ResultsOf the 30 women enrolled, 23 completed the study. Compared to women in the control group (n=13), those in the intervention group (n=10) showed significant improvements on the scores for the chair stand test (95% confidence interval -10.45 to -5.94, P<.001), Berg Balance Scale (95% confidence interval -2.31 to -0.28, P=.02), and Fear of Falling Questionnaire (95% confidence interval 0.69-3.5, P=.01). ConclusionsThe telepresence exercise program had positive effects on fall-related risk factors in community-dwelling elderly women with a high risk of falling. Elderly-friendly telepresence technology for home-based exercises can serve as an effective intervention to improve fall-related physical and psychological factors. Trial RegistrationClinical Research Information Service KCT0002710; https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/en/search/ search_result_st01.jsp?seq=11246 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6zdSUEsmb)http://mhealth.jmir.org/2018/5/e132/ |
| spellingShingle | Hong, Jeeyoung Kong, Hyoun-Joong Yoon, Hyung-Jin Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled Trial JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| title | Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full | Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_fullStr | Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_short | Web-Based Telepresence Exercise Program for Community-Dwelling Elderly Women With a High Risk of Falling: Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_sort | web based telepresence exercise program for community dwelling elderly women with a high risk of falling randomized controlled trial |
| url | http://mhealth.jmir.org/2018/5/e132/ |
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