Changes in physical activity level during hospitalization in patients with stroke and those with fracture: a prospective longitudinal study.

ABSTRACT

[Purpose] To examine changes in physical activity levels between admission and discharge in patients hospitalized after stroke and fracture. [Participants and Methods] Patients with stroke (n=36) or fracture (n=41) wore an accelerometer during the daytime for three days after admission and before discharge. Physical activity was divided into sedentary behavior (SB), light-intensity (LIPA), and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA), and then compared between hospital admission and discharge using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The characteristics of patients with or without changes in SB during hospitalization were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. [Results] The median LIPA time in patients after stroke and fracture increased from 107.5 and 106.7 minutes on admission to 122.0 and 127.3 minutes at discharge, and the median MVPA time increased from 2.7 and 0.7 minutes on admission to 4.2 and 2.7 minutes at discharge, respectively. In particular, LIPA in non-therapy time increased for patients both after stroke and fracture. No differences in characteristics were observed between with or without changes in SB regardless of differences in diagnoses. [Conclusion] These findings indicate that while physical activity levels increased during hospitalization, they remained below World Health Organization recommendations for MVPA, and patient characteristics alone may not account for increased activity levels.