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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

After a stroke incident, physical inactivity is common. People with stroke may perceive several barriers to performing physical activity (PA). This study aimed to document the PA level and understand the barriers and facilitators to engaging in PA for community-dwelling stroke survivors in Benin, a lower middle-income country. A cross-sectional study was conducted in three hospitals in Benin. Levels of PA were recorded by means of the Benin version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire long form (IPAQ-LF-Benin), which is validated for stroke survivors in Benin. The perceived exercise facilitators and barriers were assessed by the Stroke Exercise Preference Inventory-13 (SEPI-13). A descriptive analysis and associations were performed with a Confidence Interval of 95% and <0.05 level of significance. A total of 87 participants (52 men, mean age of 53 ± 10 years, mean time after a stroke of 11 (IQR: 15) months and an average of 264.5 ± 178.9 m as distance on the 6 min walking test (6MWT) were included. Overall, stroke survivors in Benin reached a total PA of 985.5 (IQR: 2520) metabolic equivalent (METs)-minutes per week and were least active at work, domestic, and leisure domains with 0 MET-minutes per week. The overview of PA level showed that 52.9% of participants performed low PA intensity. However, 41.4% performed moderate PA or walking per day for at least five days per week. Important perceived barriers were lack of information (45.3%), hard-to-start exercise (39.5%), and travelling to places to exercise (29.9%). The preference for exercise was with family or friends, outdoors, for relaxation or enjoyment (90.2%), and receiving feedback (78.3%). Several socio-demographic, clinical, and community factors were significantly associated with moderate or intense PA (p < 0.05) in stroke survivors in this study. Our findings show that the PA level among chronic stroke survivors in Benin is overall too low relative to their walking capacity. Cultural factors in terms of the overprotection of the patients by their entourage and/or the low health literacy of populations to understand the effect of PA on their health may play a role. There is a need for new approaches that consider the individual barriers and facilitators to exercise.

Details

Title
Physical Activity Level, Barriers, and Facilitators for Exercise Engagement for Chronic Community-Dwelling Stroke Survivors in Low-Income Settings: A Cross-Sectional Study in Benin
Author
Noukpo, Sènadé Inès 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lisa Tedesco Triccas 2 ; Bonnechère, Bruno 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Adoukonou, Thierry 4 ; Feys, Peter 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Oyéné Kossi 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Unit of Neurology and NeuroRehabilitation, University Hospital of Parakou, Parakou 01 BP 02, Benin; REVAL, Rehabilitation Research Center, Hasselt University, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium 
 REVAL, Rehabilitation Research Center, Hasselt University, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium 
 REVAL, Rehabilitation Research Center, Hasselt University, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium; Technology-Supported and Data-Driven Rehabilitation, Data Science Institute, Hasselt University, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium 
 Unit of Neurology and NeuroRehabilitation, University Hospital of Parakou, Parakou 01 BP 02, Benin; ENATSE, National School of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Parakou, Parakou 03 BP 10, Benin; Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Parakou, Parakou 03 BP 10, Benin 
 Unit of Neurology and NeuroRehabilitation, University Hospital of Parakou, Parakou 01 BP 02, Benin; REVAL, Rehabilitation Research Center, Hasselt University, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium; ENATSE, National School of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Parakou, Parakou 03 BP 10, Benin 
First page
1784
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
1661-7827
e-ISSN
1660-4601
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2774899493
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.