When it comes to internet-based or outpatient physical therapy, which one comes out the winner? Turns out, it’s a draw, with similar outcomes results, according to results of a study presented recently at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting.
In the study, Sarah Ulcoq, BAppSc, MOT, and colleagues randomly assigned 127 patients with partial meniscectomy undergoing knee arthroscopy to either an outpatient or internet-based physical therapy program.
Researchers collected Veterans RAND 12 Item Health Survey (VR-12), IKDC, modified Cincinnati Rating System and Lysholm scores preoperatively and 1 week, 6 weeks, and 6 months after surgery.
“At both 6 weeks and final 6-month follow-up, there was no significant difference in IKDC scores between the two groups,” Ulcoq says, during her presentation. “There was also no significant difference in the three secondary outcome measures between the [physical therapy] PT group online and the outpatient physical therapy.”
Both groups had a positive trend but no significant differences in Lysholm, modified Cincinnati Rating System and VR-12 physical and mental scores from preoperatively to 6 months, Ulcoq notes.
“Their satisfaction on the outpatient PT group was 7.67 and for the online PT group, it was 7.59, which had no statistical difference between the two,” Ulcoq states.
[Source: Healio Orthopaedicstoday]
