Integrating Tele-Exercise with Remote Monitoring in People with Multiple Sclerosis

Research Objectives: Evaluate the safety, feasibility, and usability of integrating a tele-exercise intervention with remote monitoring systems in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Design: The safety, feasibility, and usability of an integrated tele-exercise and remote monitoring program in people with MS (PwMS) was evaluated by deploying a before-after intervention study design.

Setting: The intervention was deployed in the general community and outcomes were collected in a hospital setting.

Participants: Eight female and three male participants with MS (51.2±8.6 years of age) with a PDDS of 1-6 (3.1±1.6) were included in the study.

Interventions: Participants completed a 6-week tele-exercise program delivered through an online video streaming platform called Burnalong.

Main Outcome Measures: Safety was evaluated by assessing the number of falls and adverse events as well as changes in mobility (6 minute walk test) and trait fatigue (modified fatigue impact scale). Feasibility was evaluated by quantifying the adherence to tele-exercise and remote monitoring activities. Remote monitoring activities included wearing a Fitbit smart watch and responding to daily surveys deployed through a mobile application (MyCap).

Results: Participants did not report any adverse events or falls and did not experience any significant reductions in mobility or increases in fatigue. On average, participants were 59.8%±13.4 adherent to assigned exercises, 77.0%±11.6 adherent to wearing a smart watch, and 59.9%±9.7 adherent to taking surveys.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the preliminary safety and feasibility integrating tele-exercise delivered through an online platform with state-of-the-art remote monitoring systems. Integrating tele-exercise interventions with measurements derived from remote monitoring systems may provide novel insight regarding the impact of tele-exercise.

Author(s) Disclosures: None