Effects of a Mobile App on Adherence to Daily Exercise and Recovery After Whiplash Injury

NCT ID: NCT05704023

Last Updated: 2024-09-23

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 68 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-01-20
• Study Completion Date: 2024-08-13

Brief Summary

This study investigates the effect of daily mobile app reminders to exercise in conjunction with standard physical therapy on adherence to exercise and recovery after whiplash injury of the neck. Participants will be divided into two groups, the experimental (Arm A) and control group (Arm B). Both groups will complete a standard physical therapy program under the supervision of a physiotherapist. Both groups will get illustrated home exercise programs and will be advised to continue exercising at home. In addition, the experimental group will receive one daily push notification via a mobile app to perform a daily exercise at home.

Detailed Description

Whiplash injury of the neck is the most common injury resulting from a traffic accident. Although most people recover completely, 30 to 50% of them develop chronic neck pain and disability. Also, long sick leaves and lower productivity at work create a burden on the healthcare system.

Conservative treatment includes exercise, physical therapy modalities such as transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), and ultrasound therapy. Although conservative treatment is recommended, the evidence of its efficacy remains unclear. Education after the injury can be beneficial in lowering anxiety and pain.

Many studies are investigating the usefulness of mobile apps in various medical conditions. In rehabilitation medicine, apps are used to increase knowledge about different conditions, as a measurement tool, and as an intervention to increase adherence to the prescribed therapy.

After the enrollment in the study, participants will complete the two-part physical therapy program (2x10 sessions, 5times/day, 3-week break in between) under the supervision of a physiotherapist at the outpatient clinic. After completing the program, the participants will get a home exercise program, group A via mobile app, and group B via papers, and will be encouraged to continue exercising at home. Also, group A will download a mobile app, "WIapp," that was developed for this purpose and will receive one daily push notification as a reminder to perform a daily exercise at home.

The investigators hypothesize that daily reminding to exercise via mobile app can increase adherence to prescribed therapy and overall increase recovery.

Conditions

Whiplash Injury of Cervical Spine

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Mobile app (WIapp) group

Standard physical therapy program: 2x10 sessions, 5 times a week, 3-week break in between;

Mobile app with instructions on exercise at home and daily reminder to exercixse

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Reminder to exercise

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Exercise support: Daily, at 7 p.m. patients will get a notification with a reminder to exercise. The app includes photographs of exercises, with instructions, that patients can look at and read if they forget which exercises they need to do and how.

Control group

Standard physical therapy program: 2x10 sessions, 5 times a week, 3-week break in between, written instructions on exercises at home

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Reminder to exercise

Exercise support: Daily, at 7 p.m. patients will get a notification with a reminder to exercise. The app includes photographs of exercises, with instructions, that patients can look at and read if they forget which exercises they need to do and how.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• patients who sustained whiplash injury of the neck in a car accident as drivers or co-drivers
• diagnosed with a whiplash injury of the neck by physical and rehabilitation medicine specialist within 3 months
• Neck Disability Index (NDI) score higher than 5 (10%)
• possession of and ability to use a smartphone and a mobile app
• age ≥ 18 years
• signed written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

• bone fracture sustained in the accident
• spinal cord injury
• accident in any other type of vehicle other than car
• treatment of malignant disease in the last 5 years
• expected non-compliance (not possible to use a smartphone because of severe mental or physical impairment)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Blaz Barun

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Blaz Barun

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Aljinović

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

University Hospital Split

Locations

University Hospital Split

Split, , Croatia

Countries

Croatia

References

Barun B, Divic Z, Martinovic Kaliterna D, Poljicanin A, Benzon B, Aljinovic J. Mobile App Intervention Increases Adherence to Home Exercise Program After Whiplash Injury-A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). Diagnostics (Basel). 2024 Dec 4;14(23):2729. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics14232729.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 39682637 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

4090457

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id