Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury During the COVID-19 Pandemic (TELE-SCOPE): A Single-Center, Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has posed numerous challenges in accessing adequate healthcare services, particularly for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). On the other hand, telerehabilitation has emerged as a promising solution to address healthcare needs. Since there was no study during the pandemic, we started this study with the aim of assessing the efficacy of telerehabilitation for individuals with SCI during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This is a prospective double-blind, randomized, controlled trial conducted in a tertiary rehabilitation care center hospital. Thirty participants with traumatic spinal cord injuries (age 18 years or more, either gender) were equally randomized to the telerehabilitation or control group (1:1). Biweekly telerehabilitation sessions (each session: 30 minutes) were provided. Participants in the control group were advised to continue standard usual care as advised previously during outpatient or inpatient rehabilitation. The Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM III) (primary outcome measure) and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) (secondary outcome measure) were evaluated at baseline, four weeks, and eight weeks. Results The mean age of the intervention group was 28.2±6.9 years, and the mean age of the control group was 26.3±7.7 years. The self-care (P = 0.03) and mobility domains (P=0.01) of the SCIM III in the intervention group compared to the control group, as determined through a between-group analysis, showed statistically significant differences. CAS also showed improvement in the intervention group compared to the control group. Within-group analysis showed a mean difference of 6.3 points in the intervention group compared to the control group (1.3 points). Conclusion Telerehabilitation intervention is safe, feasible, and effective in improving self-care and mobility domains in persons with spinal cord injuries during the pandemic. It is also effective in reducing the anxiety related to the coronavirus in this population. Further research with a larger sample size and a longer duration is needed to evaluate long-term effectiveness during such crises.