Objectively Measured Physical Activity Level In Ambulatory Stroke Patients

Abstract

Stroke management guidelines include physical activity recommendations, as physical activity has proven benefits for stroke prevention and management. Studies from various parts of the world have reported that stroke survivors do not reach the recommended level of physical activity. Functional limitations and various other factors might be contributing to this. Thus, the need is there to evaluate the physical activity levels of stroke survivors and find how functional abilities correlate with physical activity. newlineAIM newlineThis study aims to objectively measure the physical activity of stroke survivors and evaluate its correlation with functional abilities. newlineMETHODS newlineThe study included 108 ambulatory stroke patients. The physical activity of all the participants was measured for the duration of 24 hours by an accelerometer - Actigraph wGT3X-BT. Functional abilities were measured for independence in daily living, gait speed, and endurance by Barthel index, 10MWT, and 6MWT respectively. newlineRESULTS newlineStudy participants have been found to spend more time in sedentary or light activities. They spent 45.3 ± 5.43 percent of their day sedentary and 42.72 ± 5.49 percent of the time in light activities. They were involved in moderate activity for 11.92 ± 5.63 percent of the time in a day and had no involvement in newlineiv newlinevigorous activity. They had 7795.6 ± 2669.9 steps and spent 200.27 ± 68.60 Kcal in a day. Physical activity parameters step counts and energy expenditure in METrate and Kcal/ day show a statistically significant positive correlation with functional ability parameters except for energy expenditure in Kcal for the day and independence in activities of daily living. newlineCONCLUSION newlineThis study participants reported low physical activity as compared to the recommendation. Ambulatory stroke patients in the study have been found to spend the majority of their time sedentary and with low levels of PA and have shown no involvement in vigorous activity. Functional ability parameters, gait speed, and gait endurance show moderate