A tele-health intervention to increase physical fitness in people with spinal cord injury and cardiometabolic disease or risk factors: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

This study explored whether a telehealth program could improve fitness in people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) and cardiometabolic risk factors. Participants received physical activity counseling via telephone for six months. The program was adapted from the Diabetes Prevention Program and included a free home exercise toolkit. Researchers measured fitness, cardiometabolic risk factors, and self-reported outcomes at baseline and after six months. The study found the telehealth intervention did not significantly improve cardiorespiratory fitness, but did show promising effects on self-reported physical activity, depression, and pain.

• 1
  The telehealth intervention did not meet key efficacy and feasibility objectives, particularly in improving cardiorespiratory fitness.
• 2
  There was a medium effect of the intervention on self-reported minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).
• 3
  The intervention group reported a large drop in depression severity and likelihood of meeting criteria for probable major depressive disorder, relative to UC controls.