A prospective non-randomized feasibility study of an online membership-based fitness program for promoting physical activity in people with mobility impairments
Authors: Malone Laurie A. , Mehta Tapan , Mendonca Christen J. , Mohanraj Sangeetha , Thirumalai Mohanraj 
Published: August 2024

Background

People with mobility limitations have a disproportionately higher rate of acquiring secondary conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular comorbidity, pain, fatigue, depression, deconditioning, and type 2 diabetes. These conditions often result from poor access to home and community-based health promotion/wellness programs. The aim of this project was to determine the feasibility of delivering an online community membership-based fitness program for individuals with mobility impairments.

Methods

For this prospective single-arm study, participants were recruited from members of a community fitness facility that serves people with physical disabilities and chronic health conditions. While all members had access to the online platform, individuals had to opt-in to participate in the research component. Activity options included 16 pre-recorded videos and 9 live exercise classes. During the 8-week program, participants had an opportunity to earn three exercise incentives for reaching certain activity milestones. Enrollment percentage, attendance, and attrition were tracked to assess program feasibility and acceptability. Changes in participant-reported outcomes including self-reported physical activity, psychosocial outcomes, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were examined using non-parametric analyses.

Results

A total of 146 eligible individuals were screened of which 33 enrolled (22.6%). Two participants withdrew from the study, so a total of 31 were used for analyses. Participants included 29 women and 12 Black people with an average age of 60 (± 15.9) years. Health conditions included stroke, post-polio, arthritis, neuropathy, cerebral palsy, and obesity. Ten participants used an assistive device to get around inside the home. Twenty-six participants (78.8%) completed the online program, and 5 participants earned all 3 participation incentives. The mean number of live Zoom exercise classes attended by the participants was 12.8 (range = 0–43) over 8 weeks; 3 of 31 participants did not attend any classes. On average, participants watched 128 min (range = 0–704 min) of pre-recorded videos; 6 of 31 participants did not view any pre-recorded videos. Self-reported physical activity showed the largest improvement (11.15 units; 95% CI, 3.08, 19.56) with an effect size of 0.51 (Cohen’s d).

Conclusions

This pilot study of an online membership-based fitness program for people with mobility impairments demonstrated preliminary effectiveness in increasing physical activity and was found to be feasible and acceptable. Feasibility endpoints do indicate potential to improve retention. These results suggest that online delivery of exercise programs can broaden the reach of specialized community fitness programs and is a promising direction for future work and fully powered trials are warranted to assess intervention efficacy.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05138809. Registered September 2, 2021, ClinicalTrials.gov PRS: Record Summary NCT05138809.