This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
Research Objectives
Promoting physical activity (PA) after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI)
is challenging due to elevated PA barriers (e.g., transportation, accessibility, endurance,
self-consciousness) and COVID-19-related restrictions leading to the closure of community
fitness centres. There was a need to create an outdoor walking-groups to promote PA
participation. Study objectives were to determine the feasibility and acceptability
of an outdoor walking-group intervention for adults with moderate-to-severe TBI.
Design
Mixed-method feasibility study.
Setting
Community-based outdoor setting during COVID-19.
Participants
Convenience sample of 18 adults (10 male, 8 female) with moderate-to-severe TBI recruited
from a community TBI association.
Interventions
6-week walking intervention (60-90-minutes, 2 days per week) with progressively increased
walking intensity and telehealth supports (e.g., Zoom meetings, social media page).
Main Outcome Measures
Feasibility outcomes included program participation, attrition, and safety. Acceptability
outcomes included a program satisfaction scale and supplemental qualitative data about
program experiences collected through 30-60-minute semi-structured Zoom-facilitated
interviews.
Results
15/18 (83%) study participants completed ≥ 9 sessions (75%). Two participants were
lost to attrition, and one for unrelated medical reasons. No major adverse events
were reported. Minor adverse events included fatigue and muscle soreness. All participants
reported high satisfaction with the intervention (M = 9.2/10, SD = 0.9) and would
recommend the walking group to others. Thematic analyses of the transcribed audio
recordings identified three major themes about Program Resources, Program Delivery,
and Program Efficacy. Results may be used to optimize the program for the future.
Conclusions
A 6-week walking-group intervention is feasible and acceptable for adults with moderate-to-severe
TBI. Outcomes support the development, implementation, and evaluation of formalized
walking-group interventions in the community after moderate-to-severe TBI. Implications
for using PA to improve health outcomes after moderate-to-severe TBI are discussed.
Author(s) Disclosures
Authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Key Words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Archives of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
