Classifying physical activity research following stroke using the behavioral epidemiologic framework

Background: Stroke is a significant public health issue in the USA and a need emerges to better understand how to reduce an individual's co-morbidity risk. Physical activity is one approach to improving the health of individuals and comprehensive literature supports increased activity as a means to reduce risk of morbidity and mortality. One approach to examining whether research in a field is addressing a public health issue is through application of the behavioral epidemiological framework. Objective: To classify physical activity research for individuals following stroke into distinct phases so that efforts can be made to systematically address gaps and disseminate evidence-based practice. Methods: Specific key words were identified and then searched through EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Physical activity and stroke literature from 2000-2014 was categorized into one of five discrete phases. Research in Phase 1 identified associations between activity and health; Phase 2 established valid measures of activity; Phase 3 examined determinants of behavior; Phase 4 evaluated activity interventions; and Phase 5 disseminated evidence-based practice. Results: A comprehensive review of literature identified 202 articles with 70% categorized in Phase 1 (n=141), 11% in Phase 2 (n=23), 10% in Phase 3 (n=20), 8% in Phase 4 (n=15), and 1% in Phase 5 (n=3). Conclusion: Findings suggest that physical activity research for individuals following stroke is in the early stages of development with less than 10% of research evaluating or disseminating interventions.