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A.S. Honado1, O.L.G. Atigossou2, J.-F. Daneault3, J.-S. Roy4, C.S. Batcho4
1Laval University-CIRRIS, Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration CIRRIS, Faculty of Medicine, Quebec, Canada, 2Université d’Abomey Calavi, Faculté des Sciences de la Santé., École Supérieure de Kinésithérapie, Cotonou, Benin, 3Rutgers University, Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences, Newark, United States, 4Laval University-CIRRIS, Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration CIRRIS, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation, Quebec, Canada
Background: Walking is among the activities which contribute to improve physical activity (PA) level. In addition, there is evidence that the number of steps per day is an indicator in PA assessment. Several studies revealed moderate to strong link between step counts and PA level. However, most of these studies are not realised in the context of African developing countries, where the lifestyle in term of walking may present marked difference compared to developed countries. Hence, in Africa, little is known about the relationships between step counts and PA scores obtained with self-report measures.
Purpose: To investigate the relationships between objectively measured step counts and PA scores from self-report measures in adult healthy people and in stroke survivors in Benin, a developing West-African country.
Methods: Sixty healthy subjects and 60 individuals with stroke (77 males; mean age: 52.7±11.7 years old) were recruited in Benin, a West Africa francophone country. Step counts were collected by a 7-day activity monitoring from waking up in the morning to bedtime using a wrist-worn device Garmin Forerunner 15. On the eighth day, each participant completed an adapted French version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire named IPAQ-AF. IPAQ-AF is a questionnaire recently adapted in healthy individuals and stroke survivors in Benin which showed excellent evidence of test-retest reliability. IPAQ-AF allows reporting individuals’ activities over the past 7 days from the questionnaire administration time. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients (r) were calculated between IPAQ-AF scores and the mean steps per day for total sample, and by subgroups (healthy subjects, and individuals with stroke, separately).
Results: Very high correlations were observed between total PA scores from IPAQ-AF and step counts in the total sample (r = 0.96; p< 0.001), in healthy subjects (r = 0.94; p< 0.001), and in the individuals with stroke (r = 0.91; p< 0.001). However, regarding details about PA domains and PA intensity categories, the correlations were negligible for leisure time PA, and low for occupation and intense PA in healthy individuals. In stroke survivors, the correlation was by contrast moderate for leisure time, and no activity was reported in occupation and intense PA.
Conclusion(s): It seems to be a strong relationship between overall PA and step counts in adult healthy people and stroke survivors in Benin, a developing West Africa country, confirming previous findings in developed countries.
Implications: Walking must be strongly recommended as exercise to improve PA level in West Africans. Also, IPAQ-AF appears to be a valid tool to assess PA in stroke survivors and to promote an active lifestyle as needed.
Funding, acknowledgements: Canadian Francophone Scholarship Program and the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration supported this work.
Keywords: Stroke management, Physical activity, step counts
Topic: Neurology: stroke
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: CIUSSS-CN Quebec (Qc) Canada
Committee: Research Ethics Committee of CIUSSS-CN Quebec (Qc) Canada
Ethics number: N°2017-581
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
