Telehealth Interventions for Daily Routine Activities in Children and Adolescents With Disabilities (Telehealth)

March 6, 2026 updated by: European University Miguel de Cervantes

Telehealth Intervention for Performance of Activities in Daily Routines in Children and Adolescents With Disabilities

Performance of activities during daily routines is an important outcome of rehabilitation services for children and adolescents with physical disabilities, independent of their health condition or functional level. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a telehealth intervention using WhatsApp text, audio, and video messaging on achievement of individualized goals for performance of activities in daily routines in children and adolescents with physical disabilities. The intervention is an eight-week participation-based intervention for children and adolescents with physical disabilities consisted of a goal-oriented, family-centred, collaborative, strength-based, ecological, and self-determined intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Performance of activities during daily routines is an important outcome of rehabilitation services for children and adolescents with physical disabilities, independent of their health condition or functional level. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health defines activity as whole-body actions and participation as involvement in life situations. Telehealth is a method of service delivery that might enable service providers and families to collaborate on goals for performance of activities during daily routines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a telehealth intervention using WhatsApp text, audio, and video messaging on achievement of individualized goals for performance of activities in daily routines in children and adolescents with physical disabilities.

The intervention is an eight-week participation-based intervention for children and adolescents with physical disabilities consisted of a goal-oriented, family-centred, collaborative, strength-based, ecological, and self-determined intervention. It is a pragmatic intervention where goals for physical activities in daily routines took into consideration the difficulty of the goal, the family's daily routines, opportunities for practice, and time available for practice. The therapist is a consultant, sharing information, educating, and instructing in ways that encouraged engagement of participants in the intervention process. There are two follow-ups: first after twelve weeks y the last two years later.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

21

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Spain
    • Castille and León
      • Valladolid, Castille and León, Spain, 47012
        • European University Miguel of Cervante

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants between five and 21 years old.
  • Participants with a physical disability.
  • Participants with the ability to walk with or without an assistive device.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants with orthopedic surgery within the past 6 months.
  • Participants with a health condition limiting physical activity.
  • Participants with contraindications to exercise.
  • Participants unable to understand the instructions to complete the outcome measures.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Individualized intervention
It is a pragmatic intervention where three priorities were identified for physical activities in daily routines, considering the difficulty of the goal, the family's daily routines, opportunities for practice, and time available for practice. The therapist is a consultant, sharing information, educating, and instructing in ways that encouraged engagement of participants in the intervention process. The intervention plan was implemented via online consultation using WhatsApp text, audio, and video messaging for asynchronous and synchronous communication. The focus of intervention was incorporating practice of goals into daily activity routines.
Behavioral: Individualized intervention
It is a pragmatic intervention where three priorities were identified for physical activities in daily routines, considering the difficulty of the goal, the family's daily routines, opportunities for practice, and time available for practice. The therapist is a consultant, sharing information, educating, and instructing in ways that encouraged engagement of participants in the intervention process. The intervention plan was implemented via online consultation using WhatsApp text, audio, and video messaging for asynchronous and synchronous communication. The focus of intervention was incorporating practice of goals into daily activity routines.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM)
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
The COPM is an individualized outcome measure of a client's perception of their occupational performance. Occupational performance refers to an individual's experiences in performing activities in daily life. The parent or child identify their priorities for activities in daily living. After priorities are identified, each is rated for current performance and satisfaction with current performance on a scale of 1 (not able to do it / not satisfied at all) to 10 (able to do it extremely well / extremely satisfied). An increase of two or more points for is considered a clinically significant change.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS)
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
GAS is a standardized individualized outcome measure in which five measurable outcomes are specified for each goal. A score of -2 indicates the level of function at the start of intervention, 0 is the expected level of function, and +2 indicates a level of function that far exceeds the expected level of function following the intervention. The composite change score is expressed as a standardized T-score (mean = 50, standard deviation = 10). A T-score of 50 corresponds to achievement at the expected level.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Activity log
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Participants were provided a sheet that listed the activities for each goal listed and asked to record the days and times activities were practiced.
8 weeks
Interviews to families
Time Frame: 8 weeks, 20 weeks, 124 weeks
At post-intervention, short follow-up and long follow-up, participants were asked about the practice or their individualized goals, if the intervention was useful for them, and if the intervention empower them to plan new personal goals in the future and ask for help, when needed. The responses will be recorded.
8 weeks, 20 weeks, 124 weeks
Functional variables: physical activity levels with accelerometery
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
It is one of the most reliable techniques for recording and storing the amount and level of physical activity performed by each person in a given period of time, considering mainly light physical activity (LPA) and moderate to-vigorous activity (MVPA). The levels of physical activity of the participants will be recorded over a seven-day period using the GT3X+ accelerometer. The output from the ActiGraph will be provided in 'counts'.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Functional variables: physical activity levels with questionnaires
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Physical activity levels are recorded using an PAQ-C PAQ-A Physical Activity Questionnaire for children and adolescents (PAQ-C and PAQ-A). They are self-administered questionnaires to measure physical activity levels in children aged approximately 8-14 years (PAQ-C) and adolescents aged approximately 14-20 years (PAQ-A).
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Functional variables: gas consumption analysis
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Changes in oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (CO2).
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Functional variables: Heart rate
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Changes in heart rate, measured by a polar H10 Heart Rate Monitor with Chest Strap.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Clinical variables: Body composition
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Changes in measurements by Body Mass Index (BMI), where weight and height will be combined to report it in kg/m^2.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Clinical variables: Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Changes in fat mass percentage.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE)
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
It is a tool designed to record how the child, with or without a disability, participates in 55 daily activities outside of school activities. It addresses the diversity (0- no practised, 1- practised) and intensity of the child's activity participation (scoring 1-7, where 1 is less to 7 more practice), with whom and where the activities are typically done (scoring form 1-5, 1 alone to 5 with others), and the child's enjoyment of the activities (scoring 1-5, 1- no enjoyment at all to 7- I love it).
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY)
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
It is a parent-reported tool that examines participation and environmental factors affecting child participation in three contexts: home, school, and community. Summary scores are calculated for frequency (average, 0-never to 7-daily), involvement (average, 1-minimally involved to 5-very involved), and perceived environmental support (percentage).
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Muscle thickness of the vastus lateralis quadriceps with ultrasound
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
The thickness of the muscle (mm) will be recorded by performing longitudinal and transverse ultrasound images.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Pennation angle of the vastus lateralis quadriceps with ultrasound
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
The pennation angle (degree) of the muscle will be recorded by performing longitudinal and transverse ultrasound images.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Muscle strength
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Measured by manual digital dynamometry of the quadriceps muscle groups.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
Muscle strength measured by Five times sit to stand test (FTSTS)
Time Frame: 0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks
This is a test to evaluate the functional strength of the lower extremities.
0 week, 8 weeks, 20 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

European University Miguel de Cervantes

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alejandro Santos Lozano, PhD, Universidad Europea Miguel de Cervantes

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 31, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 25, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

October 25, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 8, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 16, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

July 23, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 6, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PI-DOC006-Telehealth

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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