INTRODUCTION: People living with multiple sclerosis (MS) often require rehabilitation to manage their symptoms. Telerehabilitation offers improved access to treatment options by reducing travel time and cost. Our telerehabilitation program pairs training exercises simultaneously with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique. In the current study, we characterized the benefits of our remotely supervised tDCS (RS-tDCS) at-home telerehabilitation protocol in an urban sample of MS participants. METHODS: Participants with MS were recruited to complete a telerehabilitation trial using tDCS paired with cognitive rehabilitation at-home using remote supervision (RS-tDCS). Participant time and travel costs for study visits to our clinic in midtown New York City were calculated. RESULTS: Forty-four patients with MS (aged 18 to 71) with mild to severe neurologic disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale score median = 3.5, range: 0.0 to 8.0) completed the survey. Round-trip clinic attendance required 2.3 ± 2.3 h and US $27.04 ± 38.13 for out-of-pocket expenses. Participants rated difficulty of clinic attendance as moderately to significantly difficult (2.5 ± 1.3). Severity of neurologic disability accounted for the greatest variance in difficulty attending clinic (30%, p < 0.001). RS-tDCS had 95% treatment compliance and 93% of participants reported satisfaction with the at-home treatment. DISCUSSION: Attending clinic is associated with significant costs for patients with neurologic disorders, even in urban settings. Rehabilitation can be delivered at home and supervised in real-time via videoconference.
INTRODUCTION: People living with multiple sclerosis (MS) often require rehabilitation to manage their symptoms. Telerehabilitation offers improved access to treatment options by reducing travel time and cost. Our telerehabilitation program pairs training exercises simultaneously with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique. In the current study, we characterized the benefits of our remotely supervised tDCS (RS-tDCS) at-home telerehabilitation protocol in an urban sample of MS participants. METHODS: Participants with MS were recruited to complete a telerehabilitation trial using tDCS paired with cognitive rehabilitation at-home using remote supervision (RS-tDCS). Participant time and travel costs for study visits to our clinic in midtown New York City were calculated. RESULTS: Forty-four patients with MS (aged 18 to 71) with mild to severe neurologic disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale score median = 3.5, range: 0.0 to 8.0) completed the survey. Round-trip clinic attendance required 2.3 ± 2.3 h and US $27.04 ± 38.13 for out-of-pocket expenses. Participants rated difficulty of clinic attendance as moderately to significantly difficult (2.5 ± 1.3). Severity of neurologic disability accounted for the greatest variance in difficulty attending clinic (30%, p < 0.001). RS-tDCS had 95% treatment compliance and 93% of participants reported satisfaction with the at-home treatment. DISCUSSION: Attending clinic is associated with significant costs for patients with neurologic disorders, even in urban settings. Rehabilitation can be delivered at home and supervised in real-time via videoconference.
Entities:
Keywords:
Telemedicine; cognitive remediation; multiple sclerosis; remotely supervised transcranial direct current stimulation; telerehabilitation
Authors: Patrick Altmann; Fritz Leutmezer; Markus Ponleitner; Dominik Ivkic; Nik Krajnc; Paulus Stefan Rommer; Thomas Berger; Gabriel Bsteh Journal: Digit Health Date: 2022-07-11
Authors: Marom Bikson; Colleen A Hanlon; Adam J Woods; Bernadette T Gillick; Leigh Charvet; Claus Lamm; Graziella Madeo; Adrienn Holczer; Jorge Almeida; Andrea Antal; Mohammad Reza Ay; Chris Baeken; Daniel M Blumberger; Salvatore Campanella; Joan A Camprodon; Lasse Christiansen; Colleen Loo; Jennifer T Crinion; Paul Fitzgerald; Luigi Gallimberti; Peyman Ghobadi-Azbari; Iman Ghodratitoostani; Roland H Grabner; Gesa Hartwigsen; Akimasa Hirata; Adam Kirton; Helena Knotkova; Evgeny Krupitsky; Paola Marangolo; Ester M Nakamura-Palacios; Weronika Potok; Samir K Praharaj; Christian C Ruff; Gottfried Schlaug; Hartwig R Siebner; Charlotte J Stagg; Axel Thielscher; Nicole Wenderoth; Ti-Fei Yuan; Xiaochu Zhang; Hamed Ekhtiari Journal: Brain Stimul Date: 2020-05-12 Impact factor: 8.955