Available apps for stroke telerehabilitation during corona virus disease 2019 confinement in Spain

Abstract

Purpose

Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability in the adult population. It is feasible to think about the use of telerehabilitation devices, such as the smartphone, to respond to the growing demand, even in isolation cases, such as during confinement due to coronavirus disease in 2020. It is intended to explore the available Apps for Spanish-speaking patients with Stroke for a specific sensory-motor rehabilitation process.

Materials and methods

A search of the available apps in Google Play and Apple Store was carried out using the keywords “Stroke”, “hemiplegia” and “hemiparesis”. The Apps detected have been described and evaluated by an anonymous survey among stroke survivors.

Results

Nine Apps have been identified and explored, four of which are available in Spanish: “NeuroRHB”, “Stroke Hope Health4TheWorld”, “9zest stroke recovery” and “Farmalarm”. Twelve survivors with stroke have participated in the anonymous survey evaluating with the best score the App “Farmalarm”.

Conclusions

There are few specific Apps for the Stroke rehabilitation of sensory-motor impairments, and with important limitations that prevent their incorporation into clinical practice. The creation and adaptation of Apps for health professionals such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists and their users are recommended.

Implications for rehabilitation

• It is necessary to create and adapt specific telerehabilitation tools to address sensory-motor disorders.

• Telerehabilitation should be introduced in the clinical practice of physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

• Telerehabilitation via App can be a solution, easily accessible by patients, to reduce healthcare inequality, intensify the rehabilitation process and provide continuity after discharge from the hospital.

Keywords:

• Telerehabilitation
• disability
• physical therapy
• stroke
• COVID-19

Acknowledgments

To patients who voluntarily collaborated in the surveys.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.