Principal Findings
depression, anxiety, pain
ADVERSE EVENTS, SECONDARY
The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes between DGPT and conventional in-person PT for patients with CSP. For the primary outcome (ie, QuickDASH), we observed a statistically significant change within each group and no difference between groups, along with a similar proportion of treatment responders. For secondary outcomes, no differences were observed in surgery intent, analgesic intake, and anxiety between groups, and for these outcomes, within-group pre-post changes were not significant. Similar improvements in depression symptoms were noted in both groups. Higher reductions were observed in average and least pain in the CG but not in the worst pain, which were unlikely to be clinically meaningful given the small effect sizes (worst pain: 0.08; least pain: 0.15; and average pain: 0.16). Both groups underwent similar treatment dosage and reported high satisfaction scores, low dropout rates, and no adverse events, denoting the acceptance and safety of both care delivery models. Overall, this study demonstrates for the first time the effectiveness of fully remote DGPT in patients with nonoperative CSP compared to in-person PT. These findings suggest that the delivery of PT through digital interventions can be an effective care pathway for patients with CSP.