Factors Associated With Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior Among Community-dwelling Stroke Survivors

Background and Aims: Although insufficient physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) are established independent risk factors for stroke, stroke survivors may ultimately be at a higher risk of physical inactivity. Thus, we investigated the factors associated with PA and SB in stroke survivors in a community setting. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using representative data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Surveys from 2016 to 2020. We compared the level of moderate to vigorous aerobic PA, resistance exercise, and sedentary time between stroke survivors and controls. Then we performed a multivariate analysis to investigate the factors associated with physical inactivity and long sedentary time. The recommended level of aerobic PA was at least 150 min of moderate-intensity activity or at least 75 min of vigorous-intensity activity or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous-intensity activity throughout the week. The sufficient level of resistance exercise was defined as ≥2 days/week. Long sedentary time was defined as spending ≥8 h/day on SB. Results: Physical inactivity was significantly more prevalent among stroke survivors. The older age (odds ratio [OR]=5.448, p=0.001), and living in rural areas (OR=1.911, p=0.020) were associated with low levels of aerobic PA. Female sex (OR=0.427, p=0.007) was associated with a low degree of resistance exercise. Finally, Living without economic activity (OR=2.224, p=0.001), subjective unhealthy (OR=1.458, p=0.027), a single life (OR=1.611, p=0.049), and old age (OR=1.231, p=0.046) were independent predictors of long sedentary time. Conclusions: Based on these results, further research and policy studies are needed to increase the physical activity of stroke survivors.