Uptake Rates of a Sensor for Monitoring Home Exercise Programs for Physical Rehabilitation

Research Objectives: Evaluate the extent to which patients used the sensor component of a novel Sensor Enhanced Activity Management (SEAM) system during home rehabilitation exercise, as well as therapist and patient attitudes toward exercise monitoring.

Design: Comparative analysis of data from two feasibility studies

Setting: Two large outpatient rehabilitation facilities: outpatient services of the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, and the outpatient rehabilitation program Shepherd Pathways.

Participants: A cohort of patients with diverse diagnoses and a cohort of patients diagnosed with brain injuries. Both cohorts were receiving either physical or occupational therapy and were prescribed home exercise programs as part of their treatment plan.

Interventions: SEAM, a smartphone-based patient management platform with connected motion sensors, was used to deliver and monitor home exercise programs for physical rehabilitation. Previously, a preliminary feasibility study was performed to gauge therapists’ interest in such a system and determine desired software modifications to improve usability. Based on the results of that study, the SEAM software was refined, and a second feasibility study was conducted. This work details the usability changes made to the system and investigates the effect of changes on patient usage rates.

Main Outcome Measures: The percentage of complete prescribed activities that have data from the motion sensor

Results: Of the sensor-compatible exercises that were completed in Phase I, only 22% of the completed exercises contained sensor data. In Phase II, 63% of the completed exercises had sensor data, a statistically significant increase from Phase I. In interviews and surveys across both Phases, therapists reported themes of increased accountability, the physical sensor acting as a visual reminder, and increased patient motivation to perform exercises.

Conclusions: System usability improvements did not increase exercise adherence, but they did increase sensor uptake.

Author(s) Disclosures: David J Reinkensmeyer and Daniel K Zondervan have a financial interest in the company which produces the motion sensor used in this study. Naveen Khan and John Dzivak have a financial interest in the patient management system used in this study. All other authors have no conflicts to declare.