Associations of environmental and personal factors, participation and health-related quality of life with physical activity and sedentary behavior in people with subarachnoid hemorrhage: a cross-sectional accelerometer-based study.

PURPOSE

To explore associations of environmental and personal factors, participation, and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) with physical behavior (PB) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PB, expressed in duration and distribution of physical activity (PA; walking, running, cycling) and sedentary behavior (SB; lying/sitting) and PA intensity was assessed with the Activ8 accelerometer during 7 days. Environmental and personal factors (social influence, health-condition, illness-perception, self-efficacy, fatigue, mood, kinesiophobia, cognition, coping, sleep), participation and HR-QoL, were assessed with validated questionnaires. Correlation analyses were conducted.

RESULTS

In total 39 SAH survivors participated on average 9.6 months post-SAH onset, mean age was 53.2 years (SD = 13.2) and 59% were women. Moderate correlations were found ( = 0.300-0.500,  < 0.05): worse illness-perception, cognition, fatigue, social support, participation, and HR-QoL were associated with worse PA outcomes. Additionally, higher age, unemployment, smoking, longer hospital stay, aneurysmal-SAH, and discharge to outpatient rehabilitation were associated with worse PA outcomes. Worse cognition, participation, smoking, more severe SAH and longer hospital stay were associated with worse SB outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Targeting illness perception, cognition, fatigue, and social support, might improve PB post-SAH, which may improve participation and HR-QoL. In smokers (former/current), unemployed, older or more severely affected individuals, improving PB might be more challenging.