The Spinal Cord Injury Program in Exercise (SCIPE) Study: Usability and Acceptability of the Teleexercise Platform.

Research Objectives: To test the usability and acceptability of the SCIPE telexercise platform used to remotely deliver two exercise interventions for people with SCI.

Design: Three-arm adaptive randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: movement-to-music (M2M), standard exercise training (SET), or attention control (ATC).

Setting: Video-based exercise sessions delivered through the teleexercise platform.

Participants: Participants (N=36) with spinal cord injury (SCI) between the ages of 18 and 70 years were enrolled and randomized into M2M (n=12), SET (n=12), and ATC (n=12). Participants in the M2M and SET groups completed the usability assessment (n=20) and participated in the exit interviews (n=8).

Interventions: The M2M and SET interventions included three sessions per week for 8 weeks and were delivered through pre-recorded videos via the platform. The interventions progressed from 10-minutes of exercise per session to 45 minutes per session that could be performed either seated or standing. Additional platform features included weekly articles, calendar invites, communicating with staff, and social networking.

Main Outcome Measures: Usability of the system was assessed using quantitative (System Usability Scale (SUS)) and qualitative (interviews) measures and acceptability of the program was assessed using qualitative interviews.

Results: The mean SUS score for the 20 participants (47.113.3 years of age) was 72.8/100 (range 47.5 to 97.5) which is above the industry standard (68). Qualitative findings include the system was simple, easy to navigate, and well organized. All participants felt secure using the system.
Participants liked the video and articles content customized for SCI, flexibility of remote exercise program, and 7/8 participants said the program met their expectations. Suggestions for future prototypes and programs were provided.

Conclusions: Usability scores and participant interviews suggest that the teleexercise platform used in the SCIPE study has good usability and acceptability. Delivery of teleexercise programs may be an effective strategy for addressing barriers to exercise such as transportation and accessibility of fitness facilities, while increasing physical activity level in people with SCI.

Author(s) Disclosures: All authors do not have any conflict of interest.