Rural Access to Physical Therapy for Osteoarthritis Rehabilitation - Pilot

The purpose of the RAPTOR pilot study is to determine feasibility of a rural telerehabilitation intervention by assessing (1) attendance rate for telerehabilitation visits among participants in the pilot program; (2) participants satisfaction with the program; and (3) participant outcomes regarding pain, function, and quality of life. This pilot study will provide preliminary data to support efforts to obtain external funding for a future randomized trial comparing traditional physical therapy (PT) to the RAPTOR approach. The primary purpose of the RAPTOR pilot study is to demonstrate feasibility and safety of the RAPTOR program in rural adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). The secondary purpose is to estimate clinical effectiveness of the RAPTOR program on participants' pain, function, and health-related quality of life. This will enable the investigators to determine a sample size estimate for a future trial comparing RAPTOR to a traditional face-to-face physical therapy approach in this population. Specific Aim 1: To assess feasibility of the Rural Access to Physical Therapy for Osteoarthritis Rehabilitation (RAPTOR) program in delivering a hybrid telerehabilitation program to rural people with KOA. Hypothesis 1: Participants in the RAPTOR program will attend at least 80% of study-related in-person and telerehabilitation visits, and will experience no serious adverse events. Specific Aim 2: To determine preliminary clinical effectiveness of the RAPTOR program by assessing pain, physical function, and health-related quality of life via patient-reported and performance-based outcomes. Hypothesis 2: A majority of RAPTOR participants will demonstrate clinically meaningful improvement in patient-reported pain, physical function, and/or health-related quality of life.