Telerehabilitation Applied By Physiotherapists To Older Adults In Brazil - A Pilot Survey

TL;DR

This study explores how Brazilian physiotherapists use telerehabilitation for older adults, finding it to be satisfactory and widely adopted.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the adoption and satisfaction of telerehabilitation practices by physiotherapists in Brazil.

Findings

Telerehabilitation is used by 78.8% of physiotherapists for older adults, with sessions mostly conducted individually and synchronously.

Most physiotherapists reported satisfaction with telerehabilitation, rating it as satisfactory or very satisfactory.

Telerehabilitation sessions typically last 46-60 minutes and use accessible technologies like computers and smartphones.

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize the profile and adherence rate of Brazilian physiotherapists who utilize telerehabilitation (TF) in the care of community-dwelling older adults and evaluate their satisfaction with the intervention. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted through an online survey between August and December 2024, using convenience sampling. The questionnaire investigated the physiotherapists’ profile, characteristics of TF, and their satisfaction with the intervention. A total of 59 responses were obtained, with 55.9% from physiotherapists working with older adults. Most respondents were female (90.9%), with a mean age of 41.0±10.6 years, residing in the Southeast region (78.8%), and 78.8% had more than 5 years of experience. Additionally, 84.8% held a specialist title, and 78.8% adopted TF. Most TF sessions were conducted individually (55.2%), lasted between 46 and 60 minutes (65.5%), and utilized computers and/or smartphones (48.3%) with commercial softwares (82.8%). The synchronous modality was the most commonly used (96.6%), which was applied during treatment (82.8%). Regarding satisfaction perception, 69.0% rated it as satisfactory or very satisfactory. In conclusion, the use of TF in community-dwelling older adults in Brazil has a good adherence rate and is considered satisfactory or very satisfactory by Brazilian physiotherapists. Telerehabilitation for the Brazilian older adults is delivered individually and synchronously during treatment, using simple and accessible technologies. However, a larger sample is needed to enhance the robustness and generalizability of these results.