Background And Purpose: Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior are key targets for secondary stroke prevention, yet their characteristics and contributing factors are not well understood. This study aims to explore PA and sedentary behavior in individuals' post-stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and identify factors linked to low PA (≤5,000 steps/day) and prolonged sedentary time (≥8 h/day).
Methods: A cross-sectional study comparing sensor-derived (activPAL) PA and sedentary time among community-dwelling individuals post stroke or TIA residing in diverse geographical regions of Sweden.
Purpose: To evaluate the association between upper-limb (UL) clinical tests and UL accelerometry-derived metrics in children with unilateral Cerebral Palsy (CP).
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, twenty children with unilateral CP and Manual Ability Classification System level I-III were included. Outcomes of the Assisting Hand Assessment, Box and Block-Test and accelerometry metrics were collected in the clinical setting and in daily life.
Background: While telerehabilitation is a promising alternative to traditional rehabilitation, previous studies suggest that it is still underutilised by physiotherapists. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with the willingness, and use of, telerehabilitation among physiotherapists.
Method: An online survey, covering self-reported use of, and attitudes toward telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic, was distributed to physiotherapists who were members of the Swedish Association of Physiotherapists and working in geriatrics or neurology in Sweden.
Background: Walking with a concurrent cognitive task (dual-task walking) can pose a challenge to some populations due to aging or neurodegenerative disease. These tasks require cognitive resources involving the prefrontal cortex and can be studied using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). An important step in understanding fNIRS measures during such walking tasks is validating that measures reflect the demands of the tasks and not confounding sources or movement artifacts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpatiotemporal gait parameters such as step time and walking speed can be used to quantify gait performance and determine physical function. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) allow for the measurement of spatiotemporal gait parameters in unconstrained environments but must be validated against a gold standard. While many IMU systems and algorithms have been validated during treadmill walking and overground walking in a straight line, fewer studies have validated algorithms during more complex walking conditions such as continuous turning in different directions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, people with Parkinson disease (PwPD) reported deterioration in health and physical activity. The aim of this study was to describe 1-year changes in physical activity and perceived health in PwPD during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify predictors of sustained physical activity.
Methods: This study compared perceived health and sensor-derived physical activity (Actigraph GT3x) in PwPD between the first (June to July 2020) and third waves (June to July 2021) of the pandemic.
Background: Physical activity is important for secondary stroke prevention. Currently, there is inconsistency of outcomes and tools used to measure physical activity following stroke.
Aim: To establish internationally agreed recommendations to enable consistent measurement of post-stroke physical activity.
Introduction: Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a highly prevalent, complex and distressing condition that may negatively affect all domains of life. In view of an active inference framework, and resting on the concept of allostasis, human movement per se becomes a prerequisite for health and well-being while chronic pain becomes a sign of a system unable to attenuate an allostatic load. Previous studies on different subgroups of chronic pain conditions have demonstrated alterations in gait kinematics and muscle activity, indicating shared disturbances in the motor system from long-term allostatic load.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objective was to describe the individual items of the environmental factors and to investigate the relationship between the environmental factors to health conditions, general health and quality of life in people with SCI in South Africa.
Methods: Two hundred persons with SCI participated in a cross-sectional survey design. This study formed part of the International Spinal Cord Injury (InSCI) Community Survey.
Background: Physical activity is essential to improve health and reduce the risk of recurrence of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Still, people post stroke or TIA are often physically inactive and the availability of physical activity promotion services are often limited. This study builds on an existing Australian telehealth-delivered programme (i-REBOUND- Let's get moving) which provides support for home-based physical activity for people post stroke or TIA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: While functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can provide insight into motor-cognitive deficits during ecologically valid gait conditions, the feasibility of using fNIRS during complex walking remains unknown. We tested the process and scientific feasibility of using an fNIRS device to measure cortical activity during complex walking tasks consisting of straight walking and navigated walking under single and dual-task (DT) conditions.
Methods: Nineteen healthy people from 18 to 64 years (mean age: 45.
Objectives: Self-monitoring of physical activity (PA) has the potential to contribute to successful behaviour change in PA interventions in different populations, including people with inflammatory joint diseases (IJDs). The objectives of this study were to describe the use and knowledge of self-report-based and device-based PA measures in people with IJDs in four European countries, and to explore if the use of such devices, sociodemographic or disease-related variables were associated with adherence to the recommendations of at least 150 min of moderate to vigorous PA per week.
Setting: Cross-sectional survey, performed in 2015-2016.
Purpose: The unemployment rate post spinal cord injury (SCI) in South Africa is high with limited knowledge of environmental factors outside the health services, especially in an unevenly developed resource setting like South Africa, affecting the employment rate in people with SCI. Our purpose was to investigate factors associated with employment in people with SCI in South Africa.
Methods: Two hundred persons with SCI participated in a cross-sectional survey design.
While accelerometers could be used to monitor important domains of walking in daily living (e.g., walking speed), the interpretation of accelerometer data often relies on validation studies performed with healthy participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Health Serv Res
April 2022
Unlabelled: BACKGROUND : Telerehabilitation, i.e. rehabilitation at a distance using Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is a promising avenue for improving health among people with neurological diseases or older adults who often experience limited access to services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Accelerometry measurements are a promising method to provide quantitative information of upper limb function in daily life post stroke. Our purpose was to investigate i) the validity of accelerometer-based vector magnitude ratios (VMR) to distinguish upper limb function between individuals post-stroke and healthy controls during ambulatory and non-ambulatory activities and, ii) the association between the VMR and clinical assessment of upper limb function for individuals post-stroke.
Methods: Forty persons with stroke and 32 healthy controls wore wrist and hip accelerometers while performing three upper limb activities in a clinical setting and during three days in daily living.
Background: People with Parkinson disease (PD) are known to be at risk of physical inactivity and may therefore be especially vulnerable to negative health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic due to social distancing recommendations.
Purpose: To investigate sensor-derived physical activity and perceived health of people with PD during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the factors associated with these outcomes.
Methods: Physical activity was measured over 7 days using the Actigraph GT3x accelerometer.
This study aimed to investigate the accuracy and reliability of hip and ankle worn Actigraph GT3X+ (AG) accelerometers to measure steps as a function of gait speed. Additionally, the effect of the low frequency extension filter (LFEF) on the step accuracy was determined. Thirty healthy individuals walked straight and walked with continuous turns in different gait speeds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: High repetition high dose medical exercise therapy (MET) is a promising treatment for patients with musculoskeletal pain. However, little is known regarding the feasibility of MET in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of MET in patients with symptomatic knee pain with radiographic verified OA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Design: Qualitative descriptive study with inductive thematic content analysis.
Objectives: To explore how individuals living with paraplegia in South Africa experience sex and intimacy and how they perceive the related health services and support they received whilst adapting to life post injury.
Setting: Community based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Many studies of split-belt treadmill adaptation have been focused on the biomechanical changes that occur in response to walking on belts at different speeds. This process of adaptation, and the ensuing aftereffects that are present when participants return to typical treadmill walking, have inspired the potential use of the split-belt treadmill as a rehabilitation tool. However, a full systematic review of the current split-belt treadmill literature has not yet been published to consolidate what is known about how the human central nervous system (CNS) controls adaptation to this type of symmetry perturbation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although it is well known that people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) retire from work early, little is known about how long-term changes in functioning and perceived impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) interact with sustainability of employment.
Objective: To explore changes in functioning and in perceived impact of MS over 10 years, in relation to employment status of PwMS.
Methods: In order to measure functioning, data on activities (walking ability, fine hand use, personal activities in daily living); participation in activities of everyday life (domestic, outdoor and leisure activities); body functions (cognitive function, fatigue, depressive symptoms); and perceived impact of MS were collected in 116 PwMS at baseline and at a 10-year follow-up.
: Little is known about physical activity (PA) in people with stroke living in low-income areas. The aim of this study was to characterize and contrast the levels and patterns of PA between stroke survivors with different ambulation status living in low-income areas in Cape Town, South Africa. : In this cross-sectional study, 45 community-dwelling stroke survivors living in low-income areas in Cape Town participated.
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