Examining Exercise Preferences after Stroke

Many stroke survivors are physically inactive, and this contributes not only to decline in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and functional independence but also increases the risk of recurrent stroke.

Aims

To develop a questionnaire that establishes the individual exercise preferences in stroke survivors. The ultimate aim is to facilitate increased enjoyment of physical activity after stroke through the design of more appropriate exercise programmes.

Design: Development

Current status: Recruitment is complete

Site/s:. Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Heidelberg

Increasing levels of physical activity is an important goal, but successful intervention strategies have proved elusive.

The original Exercise Preferences Questionnaire (EPQ) was the starting point. We put together an expanded pool of questionnaire items with the help of an expert panel. This resulted in a revised Exercise Preferences after Stroke Questionnaire (EPaSQ), which was administered to 134 community-dwelling stroke survivors. Analyses were used to establish distinct exercise preference factors, to associate these factors with individual characteristics of participants, and to refine the EPaSQ into a 13-item scale.

References

Banks G, Bernhardt J, Churilov L, Cumming TB (2012). Exercise preferences are different after stroke. Stroke Research and Treatment, Article ID 890946, 9 pages. doi:10.1155/2012/890946