Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.

<h4>Objective</h4>Rehabilitation is important for regaining mobility poststroke. Clinical practice guidelines suggest a high number of repetitive stepping activities to optimize subacute recovery especially when undertaken at intensities that challenge cardiovascular fitness. However, ad...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yunyi Yan, Janice J Eng, Stanley H Hung, Mark T Bayley, Krista L Best, Louise A Connell, Sarah J Donkers, Sean P Dukelow, Victor E Ezeugwu, Marie-Hélène Milot, Brodie M Sakakibara, Lisa Sheehy, Hubert Wong, Jennifer Yao, Sue Peters
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328930
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849387898655211520
author Yunyi Yan
Janice J Eng
Stanley H Hung
Mark T Bayley
Krista L Best
Louise A Connell
Sarah J Donkers
Sean P Dukelow
Victor E Ezeugwu
Marie-Hélène Milot
Brodie M Sakakibara
Lisa Sheehy
Hubert Wong
Jennifer Yao
Sue Peters
author_facet Yunyi Yan
Janice J Eng
Stanley H Hung
Mark T Bayley
Krista L Best
Louise A Connell
Sarah J Donkers
Sean P Dukelow
Victor E Ezeugwu
Marie-Hélène Milot
Brodie M Sakakibara
Lisa Sheehy
Hubert Wong
Jennifer Yao
Sue Peters
author_sort Yunyi Yan
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Objective</h4>Rehabilitation is important for regaining mobility poststroke. Clinical practice guidelines suggest a high number of repetitive stepping activities to optimize subacute recovery especially when undertaken at intensities that challenge cardiovascular fitness. However, adherence to these guidelines is unclear. The objective of this study was to quantify aerobic minutes and step number in usual care inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit physical therapy sessions across Canada and identify characteristics of participants who met guideline aerobic intensity minutes at a session midpoint in their rehabilitation.<h4>Methods</h4>To gain insight into usual care, we analyzed cross-sectional data from the usual care arm of the Walk 'n Watch implementation trial; trial sites included Canadian rehabilitation units that were not typically involved in research studies. To be included, medically stable patients were admitted for inpatient stroke rehabilitation, and able to take > 5 steps with a maximum of one person assisting. We assessed a midpoint physical therapy session with a wrist-based heart monitor (aerobic minutes) and ankle-based step counter (step number). Means, histograms, and correlations between aerobic minutes (> 40% heart rate reserve) and steps were calculated.<h4>Results</h4>There were 166 participants (69 females, age 69 standard deviation (SD)12 years) with stroke (138 Ischemic/ 27 Hemorrhagic) included. Participants had a mean of 10(SD11) aerobic minutes and 985(SD579) steps. The relationship between step number and aerobic minutes was negligible (R2 = 0.003). More participants with ≥20 aerobic minutes in a session were male, with lower 6 Minute Walk Test distance, and have a subcortical stroke location.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The number of steps has increased, but aerobic minutes has not changed and remains extremely low compared to published reports in the past several years. Given that increasing activity levels are critical for stroke recovery, further investigation into the potential barriers to achieving targets set by guidelines is recommended.<h4>Trial registration</h4>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04238260.
format Article
id doaj-art-684aae0add8b459cbd4ffc6e20b03508
institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-684aae0add8b459cbd4ffc6e20b035082025-08-20T03:42:26ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01207e032893010.1371/journal.pone.0328930Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.Yunyi YanJanice J EngStanley H HungMark T BayleyKrista L BestLouise A ConnellSarah J DonkersSean P DukelowVictor E EzeugwuMarie-Hélène MilotBrodie M SakakibaraLisa SheehyHubert WongJennifer YaoSue Peters<h4>Objective</h4>Rehabilitation is important for regaining mobility poststroke. Clinical practice guidelines suggest a high number of repetitive stepping activities to optimize subacute recovery especially when undertaken at intensities that challenge cardiovascular fitness. However, adherence to these guidelines is unclear. The objective of this study was to quantify aerobic minutes and step number in usual care inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit physical therapy sessions across Canada and identify characteristics of participants who met guideline aerobic intensity minutes at a session midpoint in their rehabilitation.<h4>Methods</h4>To gain insight into usual care, we analyzed cross-sectional data from the usual care arm of the Walk 'n Watch implementation trial; trial sites included Canadian rehabilitation units that were not typically involved in research studies. To be included, medically stable patients were admitted for inpatient stroke rehabilitation, and able to take > 5 steps with a maximum of one person assisting. We assessed a midpoint physical therapy session with a wrist-based heart monitor (aerobic minutes) and ankle-based step counter (step number). Means, histograms, and correlations between aerobic minutes (> 40% heart rate reserve) and steps were calculated.<h4>Results</h4>There were 166 participants (69 females, age 69 standard deviation (SD)12 years) with stroke (138 Ischemic/ 27 Hemorrhagic) included. Participants had a mean of 10(SD11) aerobic minutes and 985(SD579) steps. The relationship between step number and aerobic minutes was negligible (R2 = 0.003). More participants with ≥20 aerobic minutes in a session were male, with lower 6 Minute Walk Test distance, and have a subcortical stroke location.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The number of steps has increased, but aerobic minutes has not changed and remains extremely low compared to published reports in the past several years. Given that increasing activity levels are critical for stroke recovery, further investigation into the potential barriers to achieving targets set by guidelines is recommended.<h4>Trial registration</h4>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04238260.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328930
spellingShingle Yunyi Yan
Janice J Eng
Stanley H Hung
Mark T Bayley
Krista L Best
Louise A Connell
Sarah J Donkers
Sean P Dukelow
Victor E Ezeugwu
Marie-Hélène Milot
Brodie M Sakakibara
Lisa Sheehy
Hubert Wong
Jennifer Yao
Sue Peters
Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.
PLoS ONE
title Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.
title_full Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.
title_fullStr Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.
title_full_unstemmed Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.
title_short Aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.
title_sort aerobic minutes and step number remain low in inpatient stroke rehabilitation
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328930
work_keys_str_mv AT yunyiyan aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT janicejeng aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT stanleyhhung aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT marktbayley aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT kristalbest aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT louiseaconnell aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT sarahjdonkers aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT seanpdukelow aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT victoreezeugwu aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT mariehelenemilot aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT brodiemsakakibara aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT lisasheehy aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT hubertwong aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT jenniferyao aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation
AT suepeters aerobicminutesandstepnumberremainlowininpatientstrokerehabilitation