Participant-reported priorities and preferences for developing a home-based physical activity telemonitoring program for persons with tetraplegia: a qualitative analysis.
Study design
Focus group.


Objectives
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore perceptions and priorities of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) for physical activity and to incorporate their feedback to inform future development of a physical activity program delivered via a telemonitoring platform.


Setting
New York.


Methods
Qualitative data were collected from a purposive sample of adults with tetraplegia (N = 7). Two investigators led an audio-recorded focus group using a moderator's guide. Data were analyzed using a six-phase thematic analysis approach.


Results
The discussion focused on two major areas, which resulted in multiple derived themes and subthemes. The first theme centered on the daily life of persons with tetraplegia, including changes after SCI, gain of function prioritization, and identification of psychosocial support systems that facilitate community reintegration after injury. The second theme centered on participant perceptions and recommendations for a physical activity program delivered via a telemonitoring platform. Desired design features included variations in schedule, diverse activities, or exercises included in each class, and optional two-way video to enable social interactions with classmates.


Conclusions
Participants favorably viewed the concept of a physical activity program delivered via a telemonitoring platform and contributed program design ideas. Although this was a small sample size, challenges to obtaining physical activity expressed by participants were consistent with those identified previously in larger studies of persons with tetraplegia. Therefore, we expect these concepts and their recommendations to be relevant to the greater SCI community.
['Pekmezaris|Renee|R|', 'Kozikowski|Andrzej|A|', 'Pascarelli|Briana|B|', 'Handrakis|John P|JP|', 'Chory|Ashley|A|', 'Griffin|Doug|D|', 'Bloom|Ona|O|0000-0002-8340-2392']
D000328:Adult D005081:Exercise Therapy D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D057240:Patient Preference D011782:Quadriplegia D036301:Qualitative Research D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries D017216:Telemedicine
Outcomes research Translational research