Article

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the walking activity of
persons with stroke could be increased through participation in a step activity
monitoring program and to assess whether this occurred through a change in the
structure of walking activity. METHOD: Sixteen individuals living with chronic
stroke (>6 months post-stroke) wore a StepWatch Activity Monitor (SAM) and
completed a four-week goal centered activity monitoring program. Descriptors of
step activity were averaged across baseline and the last week of monitoring, and
were used to analyze the changes. Descriptors of step activity included: steps
per day, bouts per day, steps per bout, total time walking per day, and the
number of short (<40 steps), medium (41-500 steps), and long (>500 steps) walking
bouts. RESULTS: As a group, the number of steps per day significantly increased
over the four weeks of activity monitoring (p = 0.005). Subjects also
demonstrated a significant improvement in the total time walking (p = 0.023), and
the number of medium (p = 0.033) and long (p = 0.050) walking bouts. At the
baseline and the final assessment, more than half of the bouts were short bouts
of walking (67.6 +/- 8% and 68.2 +/- 8% respectively). CONCLUSIONS: A goal
centered step activity monitoring program can improve daily walking activity
after stroke through increases in the amount of total time walking, and medium
and long walking bouts.

Langue : ANGLAIS