Effectiveness assessment of a home-based exercise intervention in mitigating HTLV-1 associated disabilities: A validation study

TL;DR

This study validates a home-based exercise booklet for people with HTLV-1 to help reduce disability and improve functional outcomes.

Contribution

The study validates a home-based exercise booklet for HTLV-1 patients and suggests its potential use for other comorbidities.

Findings

The Content Validity Index was 94.3% for physiotherapists and 93.4% for other health professionals.

The booklet was validated and modified based on expert feedback for better usability.

The technology is suitable for preventing functional decline in HTLV-1 patients.

Abstract

To evaluate the effectiveness of a home exercise program called Home Exercise Booklet for People Living with Human T Lymphotropic Virus 1 (HTLV-1). This is a methodological study of content validation with expert judges. A questionnaire with a Likert scale was applied, containing 16 items referring to the content domain. Descriptive statistics were used to obtain the content validity index. In total, 46 judges participated, 24 physiotherapists (PG) and 22 professionals from other health areas specializing in methodological studies and HTLV-1 (EG). In the validation process, each evaluator judged the technology and scored their considerations. In the end, we obtained the following results for the Content Validity Index (CVI): PG CVI: 94.3%, GE CVI: 93.4%. Although the index was sufficient to consider the technology validated, modifications were made to the second and final version of the booklet, considering the judges’ observations and suggestions, which we consider relevant. The technology proved to be valid for use with the target audience. The development and validation of this product provides support to help prevent functional decline in people living with HTLV-1; standardize guidelines for physiotherapy professionals who monitor these issues; start a home exercise program aimed at other comorbidities; open the possibility of creating and validating home exercise programs with other comorbidities.

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