Reduced Ambulatory Activity After Stroke: The Role of Balance, Gait, and Cardiovascular Fitness

Michael KM, Allen JK, Macko RF. Reduced ambulatory activity after stroke: the role of balance, gait, and cardiovascular fitness. To determine ambulatory activity in a sample of community-dwelling people with chronic hemiparetic stroke and to examine whether deficits in balance and gait and cardiovascular and metabolic fitness are key determinants of ambulatory activity levels. Descriptive correlational. Home and community. Twenty-eight men and 22 women (N=50) over the age 45 years with more than 6 months of hemiparetic gait after ischemic stroke. Not applicable. Ambulatory activity (total daily step activity), mobility deficit severity (Berg Balance Scale [BBS] scores, timed 10-m walks), and cardiovascular fitness (energy costs of hemiparetic gait, peak exercise capacity [V o 2peak]). Mean ambulatory activity profiles were extremely low (2837 steps/d vs reported 5000–6000 steps/d in sedentary older adults). Ambulatory activity levels were strongly associated with BBS scores ( r=.581, P