WEAKNESS OF DISABLED LIMBS, MOBILITY, COMMUNICATION BARRIERS AND REINTEGRATION TO NORMAL LIFE AFTER STROKE IN BENIN

P.M. Mitchaї¹, A.S. Honado², O.L.G. Atigossou^1,3, G.M. Houngbédji¹, F.S.D. Akplogan⁴, F. Routhier³, V.H. Flamand³, C.S. Batcho³

¹Faculté des Sciences de la Santé (FSS), Université d'Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Ecole Supérieure de Kinésithérapie (ESK), Cotonou, Benin, ²Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Départemental de l’Ouémé et du Plateau (CHUD-OP), Service de Rééducation, Porto-Novo, Benin, ³Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (Cirris), Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, ⁴Hôpital Communal de Kétou, Service de Kinésithérapie, Kétou, Benin

Background: Stroke regularly leads to devastating and far-reaching functional, cognitive, and social consequences such as weakness of the affected lower and upper extremities, mobility impairments, and communication barriers. There is a need to better understand their relationships with the reintegration into normal life of stroke survivors, particularly in developing countries where stroke occurs early in life.

Purpose: To investigate the relationships between weakness of the affected lower and upper extremities, mobility impairments, communication barriers, and reintegration into normal life in Beninese stroke survivors.

Methods: Forty-four stroke survivors (27 males; mean±SD: 54.09±11.47 years old; median time since stroke [1st- 3rd quartile]: 10 [1-38] months) were recruited in Benin (recruitment is still ongoing). We used physical and mobility subdomains of the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) to assess weakness of the affected lower and upper extremities and mobility impairments. The communication subdomain of an experimental version of the Measure of Stroke Environment (currently under validation in Benin; the MOSE-Benin) was used to screen communication barriers. Then, the three-level response version of the Reintegration to Normal Living Index (RNLI) was used to assess participants’ reintegration in their communities. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to determine the relationships between these three post-stroke consequences, and the reintegration of stroke survivors into normal life.

Results: Preliminary results showed that the SIS physical subdomain scores (51.36±21.76) and the SIS mobility subdomain scores (70.11±20.18) were moderately and negatively correlated (r ≤ –0.462; p≤0.002) with the RNLI scores (8.16±4.94). The MOSE-Benin communication subdomain scores (79.31±15.23) were also moderately and negatively correlated (r = –0.594; p<0.001) with the RNLI scores.

Conclusions: Less weakness of the affected lower and upper extremities, less mobility impairments, and less communication barriers seem to have a positive impact on the reintegration into normal life of stroke survivors in Benin.

Implications: This study draws the attention of rehabilitation professionals to the importance of effective management of the weakness of the affected lower and upper extremities, mobility impairments as well as communication barriers in stroke survivors in Benin, in order to facilitate their reintegration into normal life.

Funding acknowledgements: There is no funding associated with this work.

Keywords:
Stroke survivors
Communication barriers and impairements
Community reintegration

Topics:
Neurology: stroke
Disability & rehabilitation
Neurology

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Ecole Supérieure de Kinésithérapie (ESK)

Committee: Research Ethics Committee of University of Parakou

Ethics number: N°0505/CLERB-UP/P/SP/R/SA