User Engagement and Experiences With an Online Unsupervised Tai Chi Program for People With Knee Osteoarthritis: Mixed Methods Process Evaluation Nested in a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Shiyi Julia Zhu, Rana S Hinman, Rachel K Nelligan and 5 others
PMID 41237400WHAT IT FOUND
Most users found this unsupervised online Tai Chi program engaging and easy to follow, with nearly three-quarters adhering to the schedule.
However, the lack of instructor feedback and technical issues frustrated some, highlighting a need for hybrid models or better digital support for complex movements.
Key findings
01Participants valued the flexibility of prerecorded videos but were frustrated by the inability to receive real-time feedback on their movement accuracy.
02A significant barrier was the cognitive and physical difficulty of learning complex sequences without guidance, with some finding the pace too slow and others too fast.
03Adherence was generally high among those who completed the measures, but this figure may be inflated because participants who dropped out or did not report data were excluded from the primary calculation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The adherence rate of 73% is likely an overestimate because it only includes the 74 participants who reported data; when the 15 who completed nothing are counted as non-adherent, the rate drops. Adherence was self-reported via questionnaires, which is subject to recall and social desirability bias, rather than being tracked objectively via website logs. The sample was predominantly older, highly educated, and located in major cities, limiting generalizability to socioeconomically disadvantaged or culturally diverse groups. Qualitative data was limited to short open-text responses (max 3), which may lack the depth needed to fully understand user barriers.
Declared interests
None declared. The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia and the Arthritis Foundation of Australia.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this program is effective for all patients or that the high satisfaction scores reflect the entire cohort. Nearly one-third of the intervention group did not complete the process evaluation, and the reported adherence figures exclude those who dropped out, meaning the most disengaged or dissatisfied participants are underrepresented in the positive results.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →