Disclosures: Alyssa K. Cook, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: To determine if use of a visual aid increases the successful completion and efficiency of musculoskeletal exam maneuvers in a simulated telemedicine environment with pediatric patients.

Design: Randomized Controlled Trial

Setting: Online (Zoom)

Participants: 30 pairs of participants including a child aged 4-17 years old and their parent or guardian (60 participants total)

Interventions: Participant pairs were randomized to a control group (A) or intervention group (B). During a live Zoom encounter, both groups received scripted verbal prompts to complete a set of 12 musculoskeletal exam maneuvers. In Group B, a Barbie™ with articulated joints was utilized as a visual aid in addition to verbal prompts. The parent or guardian was then asked to complete a brief online survey.

Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcomes included: total number of verbal prompts needed to complete the maneuvers and the number of successfully completed maneuvers. Secondary outcomes included: survey information about the ease of understanding the physical exam maneuvers and the perceived usefulness of the visual aid.

Results: Group B required an average of 4.9 verbal prompts versus 8.4 (t = 2.135, p = 0.042, Cohen’s d = 0.779). There was no significant difference in the number of successfully completed maneuvers. Group B also found the examination easier (X2 = 7.9, p = 0.042) compared to controls. 100% of those in the intervention group rated the visual aid as helpful.

Conclusions: Utilization of a visual aid in a mock telemedicine encounter with children and their parent/guardian improved the ease of completing musculoskeletal exam maneuvers and improved the efficiency of the encounter.

Level of Evidence: Level II

« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2022

PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/a-barbie-girl-in-a-telemedicine-world-a-randomized-controlled-trial-of-a-visual-aid-for-pediatric-musculoskeletal-exams/