A study to evaluate the exercise prescription through video and brochure in telerehabilitation of patients with knee osteoarthritis

BackgroundTelerehabilitation is an easy and creative approach to rehabilitation treatments for osteoarthritis. In telerehabilitation, there are various modes through which exercises can be explained to the patients. Videos and brochures are commonly used to send patients exercise plans. Videos are easy to understand and can mimic live demonstrations and brochures are easy to create and customise for every patient's need. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of brochure and video methods of exercise prescription through telerehabilitation in terms of exercise acquisition and retention.MethodsThe study design was a randomised clinical trial. A total of 110 knee osteoarthritis patients who agreed to participate in the telerehabilitation programme were recruited for the study. The patients were randomly assigned to a video and brochure group. After the initial consultation through videoconferencing, the prescribed exercises were sent on their phone in the form of video or electronic brochure. The participants were again contacted through video conferencing after 2 days and retention and acquisition tests were recorded.ResultsThe comparison of both groups through 't' test showed no significant difference in exercise retention and acquisition. The mean and SD of exercise acquisition in the brochure group was 26.3455, +/- 5.7998 and in the video group was 27.2, +/- 5.47181 and mean and SD of exercise retention in the brochure group was 7.8727, +/- 2.31784 and in the video group was 7.6, +/- 1.256. Further analysis revealed that the hamstring stretching exercise was retained better in the video group than in the brochure group (p = 0.031*).ConclusionThe study found no significant difference in exercise acquisition and retention between the video and brochure groups. Hence, an exercise brochure can be equally effective as a video for exercise prescription if the brochure is developed by keeping in mind the principles of readability and the use of proper instructions.