The effect of a telehealth exercise intervention on balance in adults with Down syndrome

Abstract

Background: People with Down syndrome often present with balance deficits, which compromise safety during daily activity. While evidence shows that exercise can improve balance in the Down syndrome population, it is unclear if a telehealth method will elicit similar benefits. We aimed to examine the effects of a virtual exercise program on balance in adults with Down syndrome.Methods: Eighteen low-active participants with Down syndrome completed a 12-week telehealth exercise program based on the Mann Method. Balance testing took place before and after the intervention, which included: TUG, MCTSIB, FICSIT-4, and FRT. This study was registered as a clinical trial on ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04647851.Results: Significant improvement was seen in the TUG (p = .043), FICSIT-4 (p = .019) and FRT (p = .019). All participants achieved maximum scores on the MCTSIB in preand post-testing.Conclusions: Balance in low-active adults with Down syndrome significantly improved following the telehealth exercise program, which we attribute to the tailored exercises that address visual/vestibular deficits and hip muscle weakness.

Smartphone-Assisted Medical Care for Vestibular Dysfunction as a Telehealth Strategy for Digital Therapy Beyond COVID-19: Scoping Review

“…In addition, van Vugt et al [ 22 ] reported more effective results when the mobile phone app was incorporated into regular rehabilitation. Guerrero et al [ 24 ] examined the effects of a virtual exercise program on balance in adults with Down syndrome and reported a significant improvement compared with the pretesting level.…”

“…After the removal of duplicates, the titles and abstracts of 289 publications were screened. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the full texts of 38 publications were read, 18 publications were excluded, and 20 publications were included in this review (Figure 1, Multimedia Appendix 1 [3,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]). Among the 20 studies that reported the use of a device or app, 2 were related to anamnesis and subjective symptoms [3,8], 12 were related to objective examination [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], 7 were related to remote diagnosis [9,11,15,16,18,20], and 7 were related to treatment and rehabilitation [20][21][22][23][24]…”

Effects of a 12‐week telehealth exercise intervention on gait speed and gait deviations in adults with Down syndrome

“…The Mann Method™ PT exercise programme used for this study was an online, 12‐week integrative exercise programme developed and provided by a PT with extensive experience working with adults with DS (Sarah Mann, PT, DPT, MBA, NSCA‐CPT) (Guerrero et al . 2022; Mann et al . 2023).…”

“…The Mann Method ™ PT exercise programme used for this study was an online, 12-week integrative exercise programme developed and provided by a PT with extensive experience working with adults with DS (Sarah Mann, PT, DPT, MBA, NSCA-CPT) (Guerrero et al 2022;Mann et al 2023). Participants attended three virtual, live and interactive exercise sessions per week for a total of 12 weeks through the HIPAA-compliant version of Zoom.…”

“…Telehealth has been shown to be a feasible delivery method for adults with DS in recent studies (Ptomey et al 2018;Santoro et al 2021). Our exercise programme incorporated a number of elements that specifically address the needs for DS, including foundational movements, hip strengthening, visual/vestibular activities and cardiovascular activity, which has been shown to improve balance in adults with DS (Guerrero et al 2022). We hypothesised that a 12-week telehealth exercise intervention would improve gait speed and reduce the number of gait deviations found in individuals with DS.…”