Tele-rehabilitation for back pain in Korean farmers

Back pain is a common musculoskeletal problem for farmers. Tele-rehabilitation for back pain could be useful for people living in rural area distant from hospital. Each session composed of self-assessment of back pain, education, stretching, core exercise, cool down exercise and homework using videoconferencing and Kinect-guided exercise. The outcome measure was visual analogue scale, Oswestry Disability Index, isometric back extensor strength, and pain pressure threshold of paraspainl muscles at baseline, after completion of 3 sessions, and after completion of 7 sessions. A total of 4 men (mean age, 64.8 +/- 8.8) and 12 women (mean age, 67.4 +/- 9.1) were participated in tele-rehabilitation program. After 7 consecutive sessions of telerehabilitation, participants had significant improvement on outcome measures including Oswestry Disability Index, isometric back extensor strength and pain pressure threshold on right L2 and left L4 paraspinal muscles. We showed tele-rehabilitation for back pain could be effective.