Validation of the Lower Extremity Motor Activity Log (LE-MAL) by Correlation with the Step Watch Activity Monitor (SAM) in Patients with Chronic Hemiparesis post stroke.

• Grant number: 22/12845-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Natalia Duarte Pereira
• Grantee: Gabriela Cristina dos Reis
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Stroke causes disabilities in the Brazilian population, having a great biopsychosocial impact. Hemiparesis is one of the sequelae and is characterized by motor and sensory impairment of a body part. These changes in body function reduce the ability to move by limiting activities and restricting the social participation of post-stroke individuals. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the mobility of these individuals in a real environment so that the impact of this health condition can be measured. The Step Watch Activity Monitor (SAM) accelerometer has been widely used to measure the number of steps in a real environment and has already proven to be reliable for this measurement in people with post-stroke hemiparesis. More recently, the Lower Extremity Motor Activity Log (LE-MAL) questionnaire was developed and translated into Portuguese, which measures the use of the affected lower limb in the living spaces of people with hemiparesis. In the literature, there are no studies that correlate these instruments, so the present study aims to evaluate the correlation between the SAM activity monitor and the LE-MAL questionnaire. The hypothesis is that the instruments have a moderate and positive correlation. If the hypothesis is confirmed, this result would reduce the cost of evaluating mobility in a real environment by the LE-MAL being a simpler and freer instrument. In a cross-sectional study with a convenience sample, the number of steps will be collected through the SAM for 3 consecutive days for at least 10 hours a day and a LEMAL questionnaire will be applied. The correlation between LE-MAL and SAM will be analyzed using the Spearman correlation test. The correlation will be considered: very low (values < 0.26), low (between 0.26 and 0.49), moderate (between 0.50 and 0.69), high (between 0.70 and 0.89) or very high (between 0.90 and -1.00).