The Impact of a Phone Assistance Nursing Program on Adherence to Home Exercises and Final Outcomes in Patients Who...

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a phone assistance nursing program as an adjunct to conventional physiotherapy to increase adherence to a home exercise program on functional outcomes of patients who underwent shoulder instability surgery.

A randomized controlled study of 70 patients allocated to a phone assistance program (study group, n = 36 patients) or conventional postoperative management (control group, n = 34 patients) was conducted. All patients in both groups received conventional rehabilitation at the outpatient clinic after surgery. In addition, patients in the study group received phone calls from a nurse (who had access to a physiotherapist) 3 days per week. During the calls these patients received a coaching session about self-care and support with the home exercise program. Evaluations were performed during a follow-up of 12 months for range of motion (ROM), pain (visual analog scale [VAS] score), Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score, Oxford Shoulder Instability Score (OSIS), and Rowe score.

All scores significantly improved from preoperative to the final follow-up in both groups (p = .001). At the final follow-up, there were no significant differences between groups in VAS, DASH, or Rowe scores. However, those in the study group had significantly better OSIS (p = .013) and ROM (p = .001), particularly for anterior forward motion (p = .001). Likewise, the study group achieved full motion and function significantly faster than the control group (p = .002). The amount of rehabilitation sessions at the outpatient clinic was 1.7 times higher in the control group (p = .004) than in the study group.

The phone assistance nursing program was an effective procedure to significantly improve the outcomes of conventional physiotherapy in patients who have undergone an operation for shoulder instability.