Tele-Exercise During COVID-19: Effectiveness of an Adaptive Seated Intervention for Adults With Chronic Neurological Impairments

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of a novel home-based tele-exercise program on personal engagement, quality of life, and physical wellness in adults with chronic neurological impairments. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Virtual study: participants exercise at home with guided feedback from an adaptive fitness instructor. PARTICIPANTS: 63 adults with chronic neurological impairments (49 Multiple Sclerosis, 4 Spinal cord injury, 3 Friedreich's Ataxia, 3 Transverse myelitis, 2 Neuromyelitis Optica, 1 Myotonic Dystrophy) across U.S., Canada, and Europe participated in the entirely virtual study. INTERVENTIONS: All participants received the home-based seated exercise program that included power posture, boxing, and high intensity interval training for 45 minutes, 3 times per week for 3 months. The synchronous group (n=33) exercised with the fitness instructor at the scheduled time using a web-based video chat conference platform. The asynchronous group (n=30) received video recordings of the exercise sessions each week. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES), Reasons for Exercise Inventory (REI), Physical health (SF-36), and Perceived Wellness Scale (PWS) were measured at baseline, mid-study, end of study, and one month follow up. All assessments were completed online on REDCap. RESULTS: Within groups, the synchronous group demonstrated a statistically significant result in PACES (p< 0.01) and physical health (p=0.02). The -asynchronous group significantly improved in motivation over time (p=0.03). The remaining assessments in both groups were not significant over time. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID pandemic has influenced in-person physical, social, and emotional engagement for all populations across the lifespan. Individuals with CNI who require regular exercise and physical activity may demonstrate benefits from guided virtual exercise programs that foster social interaction, personal engagement and physical well-being. AUTHOR(S) DISCLOSURES: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.