Authors: (including presenting author): :
Lee CC(1), Hui WH(1), Chan CY(1), See KH(1), Mak HL(1), Yeung KC(1), Lau AYC(2), Hung LH(2), Lam TP(2), Cheng CYJ(2)
Affiliation: :
(1)Physiotherapy Department, Prince of Wales Hospital (2)Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department, Prince of Wales Hospital
Keyword 2: :
physiotherapy
Keyword 3: :
exercise therapy
Keyword 4: :
Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
Introduction: :
Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) physiotherapy scoliosis exercise and education class at Prince of Wales Hospital Physiotherapy department were traditionally delivered as four fully onsite sessions, placing demands on department space, staffing and families’ travelling time. A service reform introduced in August 2025 with a hybrid model of three onsite sessions and one telehealth session aiming to preserve clinical effectiveness while enhancing service efficiency and parents empowerment. It also supports inter-cluster hospital participation for educational sessions to ensure service is accessible to patients across hospitals.
Objectives: :
By comparing functional and patient‑reported outcomes between the original four‑session onsite class (Conventional) and the reformed hybrid model with telehealth session (Hybrid), this study wished to examine whether the hybrid format could reduce on‑site attendance, travelling burden and pressure on departmental space without compromising class outcomes.
Methodology: :
A retrospective cohort design was adopted, including AIS patients who attended the class before and after the reform at Prince of Wales Hospital. The conventional cohort received four onsite sessions (n=20), while the hybrid cohort received three onsite and one telehealth session (n=24); pre‑ and post‑class assessments included angle of trunk rotation (ATR), core strength (Sit-up), flexibility (popliteal angle and backsaver flexibility) and satisfaction scores, analysed using paired tests and repeated‑measures statistics with a significance level of p< 0.05.
Result & Outcome: :
Both the conventional and hybrid groups showed significant improvements from baseline to post-treatment in key outcome measures. Core strength demonstrated a significant improvement in both groups, with the conventional group increasing from a mean of 12.35 (SD=4.404) to 13.8 (SD=4.561) (p = 0.017) and the hybrid group increasing from 12.33 (SD=4.156) to 13.08 (SD=4.916) (p =0.041). Satisfaction scores also showed a significant increase within each cohort from 3.65 (SD=0.67) to 4.06 (SD=0.59) in the conventional group (p = 0.036) and from 3.92 (SD=0.70) to 4.21 (SD=0.53) in the hybrid group (p = 0.048). Other domains remained stable or showed modest gain. Critically, there was no significant difference between the conventional and hybrid groups at baseline or post-treatment, indicating that the hybrid model achieved comparable functional and patient-reported outcomes to the conventional format. These findings indicate that substituting one on-site visit with a telehealth session can safely reduce hospital visits, travel time, and space usage without compromising clinical benefits. This indicates that strategically integrating telehealth into care pathways can preserve therapeutic outcomes while enhancing the efficiency of healthcare delivery.
