Background: Little is known about the association between fatigue and physical activity in patients hospitalized with subacute stroke.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between fatigue and physical activity in patients hospitalized with subacute stroke.
Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 244 consecutive patients with stroke who were admitted to a subacute rehabilitation ward at our hospital. We assessed fatigue with the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) and used an accelerometer (Active style Pro HJA750-C, OMRON) to record the mean duration of sedentary behavior, light-intensity physical activity (LIPA), and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). We assessed all factors at 1 month after stroke. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed the associations between FASscore and objectively measured physical activity.
Results: In total, we analyzed 85 patients. The duration of the sedentary behavior was significantly associated with the FAS score (β = 1.46, p = 0.037) and the Functional Balance Scale score (β = -1.35, p = 0.045). The LIPA time was significantly associated only with the FBS score (β = 1.38, p = 0.045), whereas MVPA was not associated with any variable.
Keywords: Cross-sectional study; Fatigue Assessment Scale; fatigue; physical activity; subacute stroke.