BACKGROUND: Although there are reports on the promotion of physical activity during hospitalization, there is no evidence that promoting in-hospital physical activity continues over time after discharge. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term effect of promoting in-hospital physical activity on postdischarge physical activity and self-efficacy for physical activity in patients with mild ischemic stroke. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of a post hoc analysis of a previous randomized controlled trial. Patients with mild ischemic stroke were divided into the intervention group (in which physical activity was promoted during hospitalization) and a control group. To promote in-hospital physical activity, patients in the intervention group were instructed in the self-monitoring approach. After discharge, we measured physical activity and self-efficacy for physical activity by mailing a questionnaire to the patients. The average number of steps taken was used the index of postdischarge physical activity. RESULTS: The study sample comprised 30 patients, with 13 patients in the intervention group and 17 patients in the control group. There were no significant differences in physical activity values (6,176.8 versus 6,112.8 steps/day, p = 0.932) and self-efficacy for physical activity score (66.0 versus 76.0 points, p = 0.801) between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the promotion of in-hospital physical activity did not appear to increase physical activity and self-efficacy for physical activity in patients with mild ischemic stroke after discharge. Additional study is needed to establish a more specific approach to promote physical activity during hospitalization that will carry over during long-term follow-up.
Copyright by WB Saunders Company.

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