REAL-TIME TELEREHABILITATION EXERCISES MAY BE AN OPTION FOR ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA

E. Develi¹, A. Yağcıoğlu¹, A. Yeral¹, S.Ş. Can¹, F. Subaşı¹, Y. Küçükardalı²

¹Yeditepe University, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Istanbul, Turkey, ²Yeditepe University Hospital, Internal Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

Background: Elderly asthmatics tend to be at higher risk for worsening symptoms later in life, such as wheezing, breathlessness, and coughing. Moreover, it is reported that they may have reduced physical activity due to asthma symptoms. Attending physical activity programs can protect these patients from worsening their symptoms and promotes physical, social, mental, and psychological well-being. Given the undesirable effects of the New Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on physical activity in elderly asthma patients, home-based telerehabilitation may be a novel and safe option to maintain optimal health status.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of the home-based and real-time telerehabilitation exercise during the COVID-19 lockdown period on quality of life (QoL), physical activity level, dyspnea, lower extremity muscle endurance, and risk of falling in asthmatic elderly.

Methods: The study included 26 volunteer participants divided into the Asthma Group (AG) (11F;1M) and Control Group (CG) (11F;3M) with mean ages of 67.16 ± 4.68 and 70.35 ± 5.34 years, respectively. Subjects were assessed before the COVID-19 outbreak and during the outbreak. Lower extremity muscle endurance, dyspnea, the risk for falling, quality of life (QoL) as physical and mental parameters, and physical activity levels were assessed with sit to stand test (STS), Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (MMRC), falls efficacy scale (FES), 12-Item Short Form Survey (SF-12) and Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), respectively. Participants were assessed three times. The first assessment was performed before the COVID-19 outbreak and the second assessment during the COVID-19 lockdown. After the second assessment, home-based telerehabilitation was applied for 2 days and 1 hour per week for 8 weeks in both groups. The third assessment was performed after home-based telerehabilitation.

Results: The study showed that AG had a statistically higher MMRC score during COVID-19 compared to before the outbreak (p<0.05). Statistically significant decreases were observed in lower extremity muscle endurance results and physical and mental parameters of QoL, while an increase in FES results was observed in both groups during the lockdown (p<0.05). No significant difference was found between the groups when compared before and after COVID-19. Although home-based telerehabilitation exercises led to improvements in both groups when considering all parameters except FES result in AG and the physical parameter of QoL in CG, a statistically significant improvement was observed in only the mental parameters of SF-12 in AG (p<0.05).

Conclusions: According to the study results, home-based telerehabilitation may improve the negative effects of COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown on lower extremity muscle endurance, physical activity levels, dyspnea, falling risk, and QoL, especially on mental health, in elderly individuals with asthma.

Implications: The lack of physical activity may reduce the QoL and physical capacity of elderly asthmatics. As an alternative to traditional rehabilitation, home-based telerehabilitation may be a promising approach to improve the parameters of patients with reduced physical capacity and QoL.

Funding acknowledgements: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Keywords:
Asthma
Telerehabilitation
COVID-19

Topics:
Cardiorespiratory
Disability & rehabilitation
Older people

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Marmara University

Committee: Non-invasive Clinical Trial Ethics Committee

Ethics number: 165