Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Exercise Physiology Services in Australia: A Retrospective Audit

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Abstract

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shift in healthcare towards telehealth delivery, which presents challenges for exercise physiology services. We aimed to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the reach, efficacy, adoption and implementation of telehealth delivery for exercise physiology services by comparing Australian practises before (prior to 25 January 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (after 25 January 2020).

Methods

This retrospective audit included 80 accredited exercise physiology clinicians. We examined relevant dimensions of the RE-AIM framework (reach, effectiveness, adoption and implementation) from the clinician perspective.

Results

During the COVID-19 pandemic, 91% ( n = 73/80) of surveyed clinicians offered telehealth delivery service, compared to 25% ( n = 20/80) prior. Mean (SD) telehealth delivery per week doubled from 5 (7) to 10 (8) hours. In-person delivery decreased from 23 (11) to 15 (11) hours per week. Typical reasons for not offering telehealth delivery were client physical/cognitive incapacity ( n = 33/80, 41%) and safety ( n = 24/80, 30%). Clinician-reported reasons for typical clients not adopting telehealth delivery were personal preference ( n = 57/71, 80%), physical capacity ( n = 35/71, 49%) and access to reliable delivery platforms ( n = 27/71, 38%). Zoom ( n = 54/71, 76%) and telephone ( n = 53/71, 75%) were the most commonly used platforms. Of the reasons contributing to incomplete treatment, lack of confidence in delivery mode was sevenfold higher for telehealth compared to in-person delivery. No serious treatment-related adverse events were reported.

Conclusions

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth delivery of exercise physiology services increased and in-person delivery decreased, which suggests the profession was adaptable and agile. However, further research determining comparative efficacy and cost-effectiveness is warranted.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40798-022-00483-2.

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Most cited references 25

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All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Patrick J. Owen: p.owen@deakin.edu.au

Shelley E. Keating: s.keating@uq.edu.au

Christopher D. Askew: caskew@usc.edu.au

Kelly M. Clanchy: k.clanchy@griffith.edu.au

Paul Jansons: paul.jansons@deakin.edu.au

Ralph Maddison: ralph.maddison@deakin.edu.au

Andrew Maiorana: a.maiorana@curtin.edu.au

Jenna McVicar: mcvicarj@deakin.edu.au

Suzanne Robinson: suzanne.robinson@deakin.edu.au

Niamh L. Mundell:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5406-3216

niamh.mundell@deakin.edu.au

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Sports Med Open

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Sports Med Open

Title: Sports Medicine - Open

Publisher: Springer International Publishing (Cham )

ISSN (Print): 2199-1170

ISSN (Electronic): 2198-9761

Publication date (Electronic): 22 July 2022

Publication date PMC-release: 22 July 2022

Publication date Collection: December 2022

Volume: 8

Electronic Location Identifier: 94

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.1021.2, ISNI 0000 0001 0526 7079, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, , Deakin University, ; Geelong, VIC Australia

[2 ]GRID grid.1003.2, ISNI 0000 0000 9320 7537, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, , The University of Queensland, ; Saint Lucia, QLD Australia

[3 ]GRID grid.1034.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1555 3415, VasoActive Research Group, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, , University of the Sunshine Coast, ; Sippy Downs, QLD Australia

[4 ]Sunshine Cost Health Institute, Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service, Birtinya, QLD Australia

[5 ]GRID grid.1022.1, ISNI 0000 0004 0437 5432, School of Health Sciences and Social Work, , Griffith University, ; Gold Coast, QLD Australia

[6 ]GRID grid.1022.1, ISNI 0000 0004 0437 5432, Menzies Health Institute, , Griffith University, ; Gold Coast, QLD Australia

[7 ]GRID grid.1002.3, ISNI 0000 0004 1936 7857, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, , Monash University, ; Clayton, VIC Australia

[8 ]GRID grid.459958.c, ISNI 0000 0004 4680 1997, Allied Health Department, , Fiona Stanley Hospital, ; Perth, WA Australia

[9 ]GRID grid.1032.0, ISNI 0000 0004 0375 4078, School of Allied Health, , Curtin University, ; Perth, WA Australia

[10 ]GRID grid.1032.0, ISNI 0000 0004 0375 4078, Curtin School of Population Health, , Curtin University, ; Perth, WA Australia

[11 ]GRID grid.1021.2, ISNI 0000 0001 0526 7079, Deakin Health Economics, Institute for Health Transformation, , Deakin University, ; Geelong, VIC Australia

Author information

Niamh L. Mundell http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5406-3216

Article

Publisher ID: 483

DOI: 10.1186/s40798-022-00483-2

PMC ID: 9306237

PubMed ID: 35867168

SO-VID: 419a2069-1fa0-4c8d-b412-9af3b3e67b42

License:

Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Date received : 1 March 2022

Date accepted : 29 June 2022

Funding

Funded by: Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA Telehealth Research Project)

Funded by: National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia

Award ID: 1122190

Award Recipient : Shelley E. Keating

Custom metadata

Keywords: telehealth,coronavirus,telemedicine,ehealth,mhealth,rehabilitation

Data availability:

Keywords: telehealth, coronavirus, telemedicine, ehealth, mhealth, rehabilitation

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Exercise Physiology Services in Australia: A Retrospective Audit

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Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Supplementary Information

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 25

Controlling the False Discovery Rate: A Practical and Powerful Approach to Multiple Testing

Evaluating the public health impact of health promotion interventions: the RE-AIM framework.

Bias reduction of maximum likelihood estimates

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Contributors

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History

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