Development of a telerehabilitation-based exercise and monitoring program and its effectiveness compared with a brochure-based home exercise program in patients with lumbar disc herniation: a randomized controlled trial

The aim of this study was to develop an asynchronous, web-based telerehabilitation exercise and follow-up program and compare its effectiveness with a traditional brochure-based home exercise program. A clinical trial included 46 eligible patients randomly assigned to Brochure ( n = 23) and Telerehabilitation ( n = 23) groups. Both groups were evaluated before and after the home program using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to assess pain intensity (overall, resting activity, night sleep), the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) to assess disability level, the SF-12 quality of life scale (physical and mental component scores), and static and dynamic lumbar muscle strength and endurance measurements. At baseline, a significant between-group difference was observed in dynamic lumbar muscle performance, with higher values in the Brochure Group ( p = 0.018). Following the intervention, both groups demonstrated significant within-group improvements in most outcomes ( p < 0.001). No significant between-group differences were found for resting pain, night pain, or the SF-12 physical component score. After adjustment for baseline values, the Telerehabilitation Group showed greater improvement in activity-related pain ( p = 0.027) and dynamic lumbar muscle performance ( p = 0.031). Improvement in the SF-12 mental component score was significant only in the Telerehabilitation Group; however, the between-group difference was small. Exercise adherence in the Telerehabilitation Group averaged 91%, with all participants completing at least 80% of the prescribed sessions. Both brochure-based and telerehabilitation-based home exercise programs were effective in improving pain, disability, muscle performance, and quality of life in patients with lumbar disc herniation. Baseline-adjusted analyses suggest that telerehabilitation may offer additional benefits in selected outcomes, particularly activity-related pain and dynamic muscle performance, rather than overall superiority. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07501910; registered on 30/03/2026 (retrospectively registered). https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/beta/studies/S000GK8800000041/recordSummary .