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Synchronous and asynchronous telerehabilitation methods produce similar benefits in individuals with non-specific neck pain

  • Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Published:
Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Evidence exists on clinical benefits of synchronous and asynchronous telerehabilitation for patients with non-specific neck pain (NSNP); however, limited studies are comparing synchronous and asynchronous telerehabilitation (TR) programs in this population. The aim of this study was to estimate the relative effectiveness of an 8-week synchronous or asynchronous TR in improving pain, functional disability, kinesiophobia, and mobility in patients with NSNP.

Materials and methods

This was a randomized, controlled clinical trial carried out on 60 individuals with NSNP. Participants were randomly assigned to synchronous TR group (n = 30) or asynchronous TR group (n = 30) that received the same exercise program for 8 weeks. Pain measured by Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), disability measured by Neck Disability Index (NDI), kinesiophobia measured by Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), and cervical range of motion were used as outcome measures. Assessments were performed at baseline, 4th week, 8th week, and 16th week.

Results

The analysis showed a significant effect of time and significant interaction between group and time in NPRS, NDI, TSK, and cervical mobility scores (p < 0.05), yet the group effect was not significant (p > 0.05). There were no significant differences between the groups at all time points (p > 0.05) except for cervical right lateral flexion at 8th week (p = 0.036).

Conclusion

Telerehabilitation technologies are expanding at a rapid rate, and it is essential to understand the outcomes produced using these technologies in health conditions. This study showed that synchronous and asynchronous telerehabilitation produces similar results in patients with NSNP, supporting that either method can be used interchangeably.

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Funding

No financial or material support of any kind was received for the work described in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Eren Timurtaş, Halit Selçuk, İlkşan Demirbüken & Mine Gülden Polat

  2. Department of Physiotherapy, Vocational School of Health Services, Fenerbahçe University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ekin Uğur Canöz

  3. Patient Centered Solutions, IQVIA, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mehmet Inceer

  4. Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mehmet Inceer

  5. Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey

    Suat Batar

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  1. Eren Timurtaş
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  4. Mehmet Inceer
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Contributions

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: ET, HS, İD, MGP; supervision: ET, HS, İD, MGP; materials: ET, EUC, SB, Mİ; data collection and/or processing: ET, HS, SB, EUC, Mİ; analysis and/or interpretation: ET, HS, İD, MGP; writing: ET, HS, EUC, Mİ. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Halit Selçuk.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Marmara University (Date: 26.05.2022, decision no: 67). The clinical trial registration number is NCT05501184.

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Written informed consent was obtained from the participants.

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Timurtaş, E., Selçuk, H., Uğur Canöz, E. et al. Synchronous and asynchronous telerehabilitation methods produce similar benefits in individuals with non-specific neck pain. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 144, 559–566 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-023-05083-7

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