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. 2024 Oct;38(10):1393-1403.
doi: 10.1177/02692155241261698. Epub 2024 Jul 25.

What factors at discharge predict physical activity and walking outcomes 6 months after stroke? A systematic review

Neelam Nayak  1 , Niruthikha Mahendran  1 , Suzanne Kuys  2 , Sandra G Brauer  1
Affiliations

What factors at discharge predict physical activity and walking outcomes 6 months after stroke? A systematic review

Neelam Nayak et al. Clin Rehabil. 2024 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify factors at hospital discharge that predict physical activity and walking outcomes in the first 6 months after stroke.

Data sources: Searches were conducted in CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus from inception to 30 April 2024. Reference lists of included articles were manually screened to identify additional studies.

Review methods: Studies of adults with stroke reporting predictors at hospital discharge and outcomes of physical activity or walking across the first 6 months after hospital discharge were included. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts and reviewed full texts. Quality of included studies was assessed with Quality in Prognostic Studies screening tool. A narrative synthesis was undertaken.

Results: The search strategy retrieved 7834 studies, from which 6 eligible studies were identified, including a total of 1433 participants. Overall, studies had a low risk of bias. Age, balance, walking speed and walking distance at hospital discharge predicted physical activity outcomes after stroke (n = 2 studies). Cognition, lower limb cycling rhythm and self-efficacy for walking at hospital discharge predicted walking outcomes after stroke (n = 4 studies).

Conclusions: A range of factors predicted physical activity and walking outcomes 6 months after stroke. Physical capabilities at discharge appear to be a predictor of these outcomes; however, this needs to be interpreted with caution. Diverse measures and time points were used across studies to characterise physical activity and walking outcomes, highlighting the need for consistency in measurement and longitudinal studies in stroke research.

Keywords: Stroke; discharge‌; physical activity; predictors; walking outcomes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow chart of systematic review search process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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