Effect of Physiotherapy to Correct Rounded Shoulder Posture in 30 Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea Using a Telerehabilitation Exercise Program to Improve Posture, Physical Function, and Reduced Pain, with Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction

Abstract

This paper was supported by the Academic Research Fund of Dr. Myung Ki (MIKE) Hong in 2021 Conflict of interest: None declared Background:This study aimed to evaluate the effect of physiotherapy to correct rounded shoulder posture (RSP) in 30 patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea using telerehabilitation exercise programs to improve posture and physical function and reduce pain, with evaluation of patient satisfaction. Material/Methods:Thirty participants with RSP participated in this study for 4 weeks from May to June 2021. Participants were randomly divided into an experimental group (EG, n=15) or control group (CG, n=15). Both groups performed shrug exercise 3 days a week for 4 weeks, while the EG performed self-upper-extremity neural mobilization (SUENM) for 7 more minutes. The pectoralis minor length index for posture, neck range of motion (ROM) and scapular muscle activity for physical function, pressure pain threshold (PPT) for pain, and questionnaires for telerehabilitation satisfaction were assessed. All exercises were conducted at home using videoconferencing. Results:The EG significantly improved PPT and ROM of extension and right-side bending of the neck compared to the CG (P<0.05) and it significantly reduced the muscle activity of the upper trapezius at 60°, 90°, and 120° shoulder flexion compared to the CG (P<0.05). In the satisfaction survey, participants cited the freedom of time and space as an advantage of telerehabilitation (100%) and reported difficulty in performing correct action as a disadvantage (69.2%). Conclusions:These findings support those from recent studies on real-time telerehabilitation physiotherapy exercise programs. However, long-term controlled studies are required to develop evidence-based protocols for implementing and evaluating clinical outcomes of remote physiotherapy programs.

Effects of telerehabilitation-based respiratory and corrective exercises among the elderly with thoracic hyper-kyphosis: a clinical trial

“…Regarding postural alignment, our results showed that the craniovertebral, cranial, and shoulder angles significantly improved after six weeks of online respiratory and corrective exercises. Our findings are in line with those of previous studies suggesting that telerehabilitation exercises significantly improved postural deviation [ 31 – 33 ]. Thus far, many studies have evaluated the significant effects of different exercise programs, such as therapeutic exercises [ 34 ], scapular stabilization [ 35 ], and strengthening exercises [ 36 ] on the neck, shoulder, and head posture.…”

“…In line with previous studies [ 46 , 47 ], our findings showed that prescribing respiratory and corrective exercises improved QOL in the study participants. It seems that the rehabilitation exercise program generally had favorable effects on QOL as the participants' perceptions of their QOL were improved by encouraging their physical and mental health, which is consistent with previous studies [ 31 , 33 , 42 , 48 , 49 ].…”

Telerehabilitation as a Therapeutic Exercise Tool versus Face-to-Face Physiotherapy: A Systematic Review

“…After reading the full text, we were left with 13 articles, of which two were also excluded. The work carried out by Lee et al [30] was excluded because both groups received telerehabilitation treatments. The studies by Hwang et al [22] were rejected because the variables of analysis were not of interest for the present work.…”