Beyond Physical Capacity: Factors Associated With Real-world Walking Activity After Stroke

Allison Miller; Ryan T Pohlig; Tamara Wright; Hyosub E Kim; Darcy S Reisman

doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2021.03.023

Beyond Physical Capacity: Factors Associated With Real-world Walking Activity After Stroke

Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2021 Oct;102(10):1880-1887.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2021.03.023. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

Authors

Allison Miller¹, Ryan T Pohlig², Tamara Wright³, Hyosub E Kim⁴, Darcy S Reisman⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomechanics and Movement Science Program, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
² Department of Biostatistics Core Facility, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
⁴ Department of Biomechanics and Movement Science Program, University of Delaware, Newark, DE; Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
⁵ Department of Biomechanics and Movement Science Program, University of Delaware, Newark, DE; Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE. Electronic address: dreisman@udel.edu.

PMID: 33894218
DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2021.03.023

Abstract

Objective: To identify homogeneous subsets of survivors of chronic stroke who share similar characteristics across several domains and test if these groups differ in real-world walking activity. We hypothesized that variables representing the domains of walking ability, psychosocial, environment, and cognition would be important contributors in differentiating real-world walking activity in survivors of chronic stroke.

Design: Cross-sectional, secondary data analysis.

Setting: University/laboratory.

Participants: A total of 283 individuals with chronic (≥6mo) stroke (N=238).

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: Thirteen variables representing 5 domains were included: (1) walking ability: 6-minute walk test (6MWT), self-selected speed (SSS) of gait; (2) psychosocial: Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale; (3) physical health: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, body mass index, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI); (4) cognition: Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); and (5) environment: living situation and marital status, work status, Area Deprivation Index (ADI), Walk Score. Mixture modeling was used to identify latent classes of survivors of stroke. After identifying the latent classes, walking activity, measured as steps per day (SPD), was included as a distal outcome to understand if classes were meaningfully different in their real-world walking RESULTS: A model with 3 latent classes was selected. The 6MWT, SSS, ABC scale, and Walk Score were significantly different among all 3 classes. Differences were also seen for the MoCA, ADI, and CCI between 2 of the 3 classes. Importantly, the distal outcome of SPD was significantly different in all classes, indicating that real-world walking activity differs among the groups identified by the mixture model.

Conclusions: Survivors of stroke with lower walking ability, lower self-efficacy, lower cognitive abilities, and greater area deprivation had lower SPD. These results demonstrate that the physical and social environment (including socioeconomic factors) and cognitive function should also be considered when developing interventions to improve real-world walking activity after stroke.

Keywords: Gait; Rehabilitation; Stroke; Walking.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Accelerometry
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Gait Disorders, Neurologic / physiopathology*
Gait Disorders, Neurologic / psychology*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Recovery of Function
Stroke / physiopathology*
Stroke / psychology*
Survivors
Walk Test
Walking / physiology*
Walking / psychology*

Grants and funding

K12 HD055931/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States