A mobile delivered self-exercise program for female farmers

Abstract

Introduction: Female farmers commonly experience musculoskeletal pain in the back, knee, and shoulder. Despite their obvious advantages in reducing musculoskeletal pain, face-to-face exercise programs are limited by geographical and physical barriers. Thus, we decided to introduce eHealth technology to farmers' musculoskeletal health care. Using a mobile application (app), we aim to provide a tailored self-exercise program for shoulder, knee, and back pain in female farmers in rural areas after a musculoskeletal health check-up.

Methods: This study is planned as 2 randomized control studies (MObile Delivered self-Exercise [MODE] phase I and phase II). We plan to recruit 200 female farmers aged 41 to 70 years. Initially, the shoulders, knees, and low back will be evaluated to provide individualized exercise programs. In MODE-I (single-blinded: evaluator), the subjects will be randomly allocated to experimental (n = 100) and control (n = 100) groups using a computer-generated sequence. Both groups will perform a 3-month self-exercise using a smartphone app or physical education data (booklets), respectively. Outcomes including exercise completion will be assessed at 3 months. In MODE-II, after subject random allocation, the experimental and control groups will perform exercise using a smartphone app with and without real-time feedback, respectively. Every 3 months, the level of the exercise program will be evaluated and the difficulty level will be adapted accordingly. After MODE-II is completed, all subjects will undergo close-out assessment.

Discussion: This will be the first attempt to compare methods using booklets and apps to identify effective ways of providing personalized self-exercise programs according to musculoskeletal health stages by evaluating female farmers (MODE-I). This will help clarify whether the mobile app is effective for self-exercise compared to a conventional booklet. The MODE-II study will help to assess the effect of providing feedback through the mobile app. Finally, we will evaluate musculoskeletal health according to the degree of participation over 12 months to confirm the effect of self-exercise. Our study should aid in managing musculoskeletal health for farmers living in rural areas and help promote health in the "untact" era.

Trial registration: Clinical Research Information Service of the Korean National Institutes of Health (KCT0005245). Registered July 17, 2020.