Similarities and differences in factors associated with high and low sedentary behavior after stroke: a mixed methods study.
Emily A Kringle, Jessica Kersey, Megan A Lewis and 2 others
PMID 38632899WHAT IT FOUND
People with more device-measured sitting time after stroke described basic daily tasks, help done for them, and barriers without solutions.
People with less sitting time described wider activities, doing things with others, and finding ways around barriers.
Key findings
01Both groups described ongoing goals and acknowledged environmental barriers.
02The more sedentary group primarily described basic activities of daily living, while the less sedentary group described basic, instrumental, and community activities.
03The more sedentary group described physical assistance from others and barriers without strategies, while the less sedentary group described encouragement, accountability, opportunities to contribute, and ways to overcome barriers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional and qualitative, so it cannot show that the described activities, support, or environmental strategies caused lower sedentary time. Only 36 participants were analysed, and they were pooled from two parent studies, including interviews completed after a sedentary behavior intervention. Participants were split into more and less sedentary groups at the study median, not at a clinical cutoff, so the groups may not match how clinicians categorize sedentary time. People with severe communication impairment, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, psychiatric conditions, or alcohol or substance use disorder were excluded, so findings may not apply to patients with those conditions. The more sedentary group reported greater impairment and disability, so some differences may reflect physical limitations rather than social or environmental factors alone. The interviewers were occupational therapists with existing relationships with participants, which may have shaped what participants chose to report.
Declared interests
The work was supported by NIH awards K23HL159240, R01HD074693, and UL1TR001857, by NIDILRR award 90RE5018, and by a University of Pittsburgh SHRS Pre-doctoral Student Award. The authors declared no additional conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that changing social support or environment will reduce sedentary time. The study describes what more and less sedentary groups said, and it cannot establish cause or effect.