Abstract
BackgroundThe use of digital therapeutic solutions for rehabilitation of conditions such as osteoarthritis provides scalable access to rehabilitation. Few validated technological solutions exist to ensure supervision of users while they exercise at home. Motion Coach (Kaia Health GmbH) provides audiovisual feedback on exercise execution in real time on conventional smartphones.ObjectiveWe hypothesized that the interrater agreement between physiotherapists and Motion Coach would be noninferior to physiotherapists’ interrater agreement for exercise evaluations in a cohort with osteoarthritis.MethodsPatients diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip were recruited at a university hospital to perform a set of 6 exercises. Agreement between Motion Coach and 2 physiotherapists’ corrections for segments of the exercises were compared using Cohen κ and percent agreement.ResultsParticipants (n=24) were enrolled and evaluated. There were no significant differences between interrater agreements (Motion Coach app vs physiotherapists: percent agreement 0.828; physiotherapist 1 vs physiotherapist 2: percent agreement 0.833; P<.001). Age (70 years or under, older than 70 years), gender (male, female), or BMI (30 kg/m2 or under, greater than 30 kg/m2) subgroup analysis revealed no detectable difference in interrater agreement. There was no detectable difference in levels of interrater agreement between Motion Coach vs physiotherapists and between physiotherapists in any of the 6 exercises.ConclusionsThe results demonstrated that Motion Coach is noninferior to physiotherapist evaluations. Interrater agreement did not differ between 2 physiotherapists or between physiotherapists and the Motion Coach app. This finding was valid for all investigated exercises and subgroups. These results confirm the ability of Motion Coach to detect user form during exercise and provide valid feedback to users with musculoskeletal disorders.
Highlights
Musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis and back pain result in a huge burden for patients and health care systems
Digital therapeutics have emerged as an option to provide access to exercise therapy and multidisciplinary rehabilitation for patients with musculoskeletal pain conditions such as osteoarthritis and back pain [8,9,10]
Even though a recent survey among health professionals indicated widespread support of use of mobile health technologies in osteoarthritis treatment [11], a primary concern with using digital therapeutics for home-based exercise is the lack of supervision by health care professionals
Summary
Musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis and back pain result in a huge burden for patients and health care systems. Impaired mobility affects both the quality of life of the individual, for example, by increasing social isolation, and the health care system, by raising costs due to factors such as hospitalizations and secondary diseases [1,2,3]. Digital therapeutics have emerged as an option to provide access to exercise therapy and multidisciplinary rehabilitation for patients with musculoskeletal pain conditions such as osteoarthritis and back pain [8,9,10]. Interrater agreement did not differ between 2 physiotherapists or between physiotherapists and the Motion Coach app This finding was valid for all investigated exercises and subgroups. These results confirm the ability of Motion Coach to detect user form during exercise and provide valid feedback to users with musculoskeletal disorders
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
