Improving Activity Engagement Among Persons With SCI During COVID-19

During the current COVID-19 pandemic many spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation services are limited to emergency management, leaving those living in the community without access to services. Unfortunately, this can lead to negative effects including increase in emotional distress, feelings of isolation, and decreased activity engagement. Due to their limited mobility and greater likelihood of respiratory illness it is imperative to provide alternative forms of activity engagement to reduce their risk for secondary complications. Physical activity has been demonstrate to have numerous benefits for individuals with SCI ranging from enhanced health through prevention of secondary complications to improved subjective well-being. The current study proposes to provide an online physical activity program through web-based videoconferencing to person with SCI to improve overall wellbeing and activity engagement. The program will consist of six weeks of twice-weekly, 45-minute sessions in which an experienced fitness instructor (i.e., wheelchair aerobics) with lived experience and a Kinesiology graduate student will lead online sessions. The sessions will be comprised of a 10-minute warm-up phase, a 25-minute aerobic phase and a 10-minute cool-down phase that will incorporate upper-extremity flexibility exercises and guided meditation. In all cases, remote (i.e., in-home) participant monitoring of physiological signals will be conducted by the instructor to ensure safety of participants. Once the program has been completed, participants will be asked to complete self-report questionnaires related to acceptability, feasibility, and limited effectiveness. Participants will also be asked to complete a brief semi-structured interview examining barriers and facilitators of the program. Participant feedback from the interviews will be used to further develop of the program to meet the needs of the population and develop sustainable approaches for access to care in the community setting through collaborations with community partners (SCI Ontario, National SCI Alliance, Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation). Ultimately, the proposed project aims to improve overall wellbeing and access to health care service for those with SCI during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Spinal Cord Injuries
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: WebEx Physical Activity Program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Swati Mehta, PhD; Phone Number: 42359 5196466100; Email: swati.mehta@sjhc.london.on.ca
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Daymon D Blackport; Email: daymon.blackport@sjhc.london.on.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • London, Ontario, Canada, N6C 5J1
      • St. Josephs Parkwood Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult 18 years or older; living with a spinal cord injury; living in the community in Ontario; access to a computer and internet

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not cleared by a physician to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Intervention; The program will be delivered twice-weekly through 45-minute sessions over 6 weeks. An experienced fitness instructor with lived experience and a graduate student from the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will lead a class of 4-6 participants. The sessions will be comprised of a 10-minute warm-up phase, a 25-minute aerobic phase and a 10-minute cool-down phase that will incorporate upper-extremity flexibility exercises and mindfulness meditation. Over the duration the instructor will be sensitive to varying levels of function and fitness and will structure the classes to enable a slow progression of intensity. Individual semi-structured interviews will be completed over the WebEx platform to garner feedback and improve study programming for future implementation of a health care service at Parkwood Institute Outpatient Clinic.

Other: WebEx Physical Activity Program; The program will be delivered twice-weekly through 45-minute sessions over 6 weeks. An experienced fitness instructor with lived experience and a graduate student from the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will lead a class of 4-6 participants. The sessions will be comprised of a 10-minute warm-up phase, a 25-minute aerobic phase and a 10-minute cool-down phase that will incorporate upper-extremity flexibility exercises and mindfulness meditation. Over the duration the instructor will be sensitive to varying levels of function and fitness and will structure the classes to enable a slow progression of intensity. Individual semi-structured interviews will be completed over the WebEx platform to garner feedback and improve study programming for future implementation of a health care service at Parkwood Institute Outpatient Clinic.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Treatment Satisfaction	Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire	6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities	Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Short Form	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Fatigue	Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Short Form	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Satisfaction with Social Roles and Activities	Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Short Form	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Positive Affect and Well-Being	Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Short Form	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Pain Interference	Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Short Form	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Resilience	Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Short Form	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Self-Esteem	Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Short Form	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fear of COVID-19 Scale	Fear of COVID-19 Scale	Baseline, 6 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Lawson Health Research Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Eldon Loh, PhD, Parkwood Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London; Principal Investigator: Swati Mehta, PhD, Lawson Health Research Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 15, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 28, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 20, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 28, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): May 29, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 15, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: spinal cord injuries; spinal cord injury
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Wounds and Injuries; Trauma, Nervous System; Spinal Cord Diseases; Spinal Cord Injuries
• Other Study ID Numbers: 115929

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No