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Functional Limitations due to Fatigue Among Independently Ambulant Stroke Survivors in Osun, South‐Western Nigeria
Author(s) -
Obembe Adebimpe O.,
Olaogun Matthew M.,
Olalemi Alaba E.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
physiotherapy research international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.509
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1471-2865
pISSN - 1358-2267
DOI - 10.1002/pri.1596
Subject(s) - mann–whitney u test , stroke (engine) , physical therapy , medicine , activities of daily living , berg balance scale , modified rankin scale , physical medicine and rehabilitation , descriptive statistics , categorization , analysis of variance , psychology , rehabilitation , ischemic stroke , mechanical engineering , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , ischemia , epistemology , engineering
Background and purpose Functional limitations in stroke survivors are sometimes associated with fatigue. This study assessed the functional limitations due to fatigue in community‐dwelling stroke survivors undergoing physiotherapy. The differences in functional limitations due to fatigue were determined between sexes, stroke types, sides of affectation, age categories and levels of disability. Relationships between functional limitation due to fatigue and these variables were also determined. Methods This was a cross‐sectional study involving 63 stroke survivors (35 male survivors and 28 female survivors) with ages ranging from 45 to 79 years (mean = 53.68 ± 10.95 years). Functional limitation due to fatigue was assessed with the modified fatigue impact scale (MFIS). Modified Rankin scale was used to categorize the disability of the participants. Data were analysed using descriptive (mean, standard deviation, percentage and frequency) and inferential (Mann–Whitney U ‐test and Spearman correlation analysis) statistics. Significance was set at 0.05 α level. Results/findings The mean MFIS score was 31.74 ± 12.39. Many participants (58.7%) had moderate functional limitations due to fatigue. The result of Mann–Whitney U ‐test showed significant difference in functional limitation due to fatigue between participants with slight disability and those with moderate disability ( p = 0.000), with participants with moderate disability having higher MFIS scores (more functional limitations). There was also a significant correlation between functional limitation due to fatigue and level of disability ( ρ = 0.625, p = 0.000). Discussion Functional limitation due to fatigue occurs frequently in stroke survivors and is related to level of disability. Functional limitations due to fatigue should be assessed frequently in all stroke survivors with varying degrees of disability and the outcome should be considered during rehabilitation and retraining of physical function. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.