Although regular physical activity is vital for cardiovascular health, little is known about how the intensity of physical activity changes over time in community-dwelling people with stroke. The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in low and moderate intensity walking activity in community-dwelling people with stroke between discharge from a rehabilitation setting and in a 6-month follow-up.

Twenty-three stroke patients participated in this study. Step counts were measured using Step activity monitor for three days at baseline and at 6 months after baseline measurement. Step data were collected every 5seconds. The start of a walking bout was defined as 3 strides within a 15 second interval and the end of a walking bout was defined as a 10 second interval in which no strides occurred. Based on the cadence in the walking bout, each bout was categorized as low intensity (< 80 steps per min) or moderate intensity (≥ 80 steps per min). The number of steps per day, number of bouts per day, walking time per day, and percentage of time spent walking per day were calculated at each intensity. The differences in each variable were compared by paired t-test.

Participants’ characteristics are shown in Table 1. The baseline assessment was conducted 133.6±5.6 days post-stroke (11.7±5.6 days post discharge). The follow-up measurements were conducted 182.5±9.1 days from baseline assessment. Table 2 shows a comparison of the walking activity by intensity at baseline and follow-up. There were no significant differences between baseline and follow-up in all variables.

Not only low intensity walking activity but also moderate intensity walking activity did not change over 6 months. Establishing exercise habits at discharge might promote long-term physical activity in community-dwelling people with stroke.