Inpatient rehabilitation patients are more active during rehabilitation times and days than non-rehabilitation times and days: An observational study

Introduction: The effectiveness of inpatient rehabilitation services has been well supported. However, patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation may be physically inactive outside of therapy. The primary objectives were to determine differences in activity levels between rehabilitation time and non-rehabilitation time and rehabilitation day and non-rehabilitation day during inpatient rehabilitation stay. The secondary objective was to determine differences among rehabilitation services. Methods: In all, 50 participants wore an ActiGraph GT9X Link on their non-dominant wrist during their inpatient rehabilitation stay. Results: We found significant differences in total activity counts between rehabilitation time and non-rehabilitation time (z = 6.15, p < 0.001) and between rehabilitation day and non-rehabilitation day (z = 5.82, p < 0.001). We found significant differences in total activity counts between occupational therapy and physical therapy (z = 5.71, p < 0.001), occupational therapy and speech-language pathology (z = 3.41, p < 0.001), and physical therapy and speech-language pathology (z = 3.07, p = 0.002). The degrees of all differences were large. Conclusion: To increase the activity levels during non-rehabilitation times and days, patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation may benefit from strategies which increase activity levels such as an individualized program that can be safely and independently performed outside of rehabilitation sessions.