Perception of neurophysiotherapists in Maharashtra about scope of teleneurorehabilitation in chronic conditions

Background: Telerehabilitation is a key component in the evolution of healthcare; so it is important to understand the scope and potential of telerehabilitation systems to meet as full a range as possible of user needs. Obstacles of telerehabilitation must be addressed before its implementation. So considering the above points, this study will help to find perception of neurophysiotherapist about scope, limitations, and obstacles of teleneurorehabilitation while treating chronic patients and the results of the study will help other clinicians in proper and accurate application of telerehabilitation for treating patients in future. Methods: After taking verbal consent from neurophysiotherapists in Maharashtra, a Google Form-based questionnaire about scope of teleneurorehabilitation was sent to them through their emails and social websites that were accessible to them and 134 neurophysiotherapists who fitted in inclusion criteria filled the Google Form. The responses were collected then descriptive analysis was done and results were obtained. Results: About 11.9% neurophysiotherapists feel that teleneurorehabilitation can be preferred over face to face visits while 88.1% do not feel it. About 55.2% agree that tele-neurorehabilitation can be used in stroke, 35.1% agree that it can be used in spinal cord injury, 62.7% agree that it can be used in Parkinsonism, 56% agree that it can be used in peripheral nerve injury. Discussion: According to this study, there is positive perception of teleneurorehabilitation among neurophysiotherapists in Maharashtra as it can be used in stroke, Parkinsonism, peripheral nerve injury but not spinal cord injury and they all agreed with effectiveness of teleneurorehabilitation in patient and family education, bed transfers, balance training, co-ordination training, environmental modifications of patient and motor learning but not in gait training. Conclusion: Neurophysiotherapists in Maharashtra have good perception about scope of teleneurorehabilitation but according to them, teleneurorehabilitation cannot substitute face to face rehabilitation but can be used as an adjunct.