Original Article
Hospital Differences in Motor Activity Early after Stroke: A Comparison of 11 Norwegian Stroke Units

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2015.02.009Get rights and content
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Background

Activity levels in patients early after stroke vary across the world. The primary aim of this study was to assess the variation in motor activity in patients admitted to multiple Norwegian stroke units and to identify factors which explained the variation between hospitals.

Methods

Eligible patients were those less than 14 days after stroke, more than 18 years, not receiving palliative care. Activity levels, people present, and location were recorded by the use of a standard method of observation between 8 am and 5 pm. Hospital policy on serving meals in communal areas was also registered. Mixed general binomial model was used to analyze, which factors explained variation in activity levels between hospitals, after adjusting for age and stroke severity.

Results

A total of 393 patients from 11 stroke units were included. The patients spent 44.1% of the day in bed, 43.2% sitting out of bed, and 8.3% in higher motor activities (4.4% were not observed). Increased physical activity was associated with spending more time with a physical therapist, odds ratio (OR), 1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.08, P < .001) and admitted to a hospital serving the meals in communal areas, OR, 1.46 (95% CI, 1.09-1.95, P = .011).

Conclusions

Despite variation between the hospitals, patients admitted to Norwegian stroke units spend most of the day out of bed. Time spent with a physical therapist and hospitals having a policy of serving meals in communal areas explained most of the variation in activity between hospitals.

Key Words

Stroke
stroke units
rehabilitation
physical activity

Cited by (0)

The sources of funding are Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and The Research Council of Norway (NRC no 205309).

There are no conflicts of interest.