Sedentary behavior patterns over 6 weeks among ambulatory people with stroke

ABSTRACT

Objective: To describe patterns of sedentary behavior over 6 weeks among ambulatory people with subacute and chronic stroke.

Design: Observational longitudinal study with assessments at baseline (T0) and week 6 (T1).

Methods: Community-dwelling people with stroke (n = 39) pooled from two studies who were ≥18 years of age were assessed for sedentary behavior at 2 timepoints (T0, T1). Sedentary behavior was measured with the activPAL micro3 following a 7-day wear protocol to obtain mean daily: total sitting time, sitting time accumulated in bouts ≥30 minutes, number of sit-to-stand transitions, and fragmentation index (sit-to-stand transitions/total sitting hours). Paired samples t-tests were used to calculate mean group differences in sedentary behavior metrics between T0 and T1 (α =.05). Cohen’s d was calculated to describe the magnitude of within-person change between T0 and T1.

Results: There were no statistically significant within-person differences between T0 and T1 on mean daily sitting time (Cohen’s d= −0.21, p=.19), sitting time accumulated in bouts ≥30 minutes (d= −0.27, p=.11), number of sit-to-stand transitions (d= −0.02, p=.53), or the fragmentation index (d= −0.11, p=.92).

Conclusions: Sedentary behavior metrics were stable for over 6 weeks. The number of sit-to-stand transitions per day and the fragmentation index appeared to be the most stable indicators over 6 weeks. Future research should confirm these findings and identify correlates of sedentary behavior among people with stroke.

KEYWORDS:

• Sedentary lifestyle
• lifestyle
• rehabilitation
• physical activity
• longitudinal study

Acknowledgments

Data collection was funded by the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences PhD Student Grant. Dr. Kringle was supported by grants funded through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD R01 HD074693) and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (90RE5018) during data collection. Dr. Kringle was supported by postdoctoral training programs on Community Living and Participation (NIDILRR, DHHS, #90AR5023) and Precision Lifestyle Medicine and Translation Research (PREMIER, NHLBI T32 HL134634) during preparation of the manuscript. The authors would like to thank staff of the Occupational Therapy Cognitive Performance Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh for their contributions during data collection and data management. We are also grateful to the research participants who engaged in these studies without whom this research would not be possible.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [R01 HD074693]; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [T32 HL134634]; National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research [90AR5023 and 90RE5018]; School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.