Cardiorespiratory fitness of post-stroke patients: as inpatients and as outpatients.
The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between disuse weakness due to acute or subacute stroke and cardiorespiratory fitness. The participants were 15 men (average age 48.4 years) who were acute admissions to a hospital specializing in the management of stroke, 11 with cerebral infarction and four with intracerebral hemorrhage. All participants received physiotherapy (40 min/day, 5 days/week) at their bedside until leaving hospital. None of them received physiotherapy in an outpatient clinic. The anaerobic threshold (AT) was measured twice: during admission (an average of 37.3 days after onset) and after discharge (in an outpatient clinic, an average of 37 days after discharge and 42.7 days after the first test). The average AT was 12.5 ml/kg/min in the first test and 14.2 ml/kg/min in the second test (P<0.05). Because ATs in patients were lower after discharge than for healthy control individuals, physiotherapy during admission for stroke should be qualitatively and quantitatively reexamined for the prevention of disuse weakness. After discharge, it is important to give patients a more active rehabilitation program to improve their fitness.
Okada
Masaaki
M
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozaw, Japan. qgb02435@yahoo.co.jp
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D015308:Anaerobic Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016552:Ergometry; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018908:Muscle Weakness / Q000503:physiopathology; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation