Factors associated with stroke survivors’ inconsistent uptake of physiotherapy interventions at Turton Community Health Centre, KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Background: Stroke is one of the major causes of physical disability worldwide. Whilst physiotherapy interventions are important for the recovery of stroke survivors, the uptake remains inconsistent and factors contributing to these inconsistencies are not well documented, especially in South Africa.

Objectives: The overall objective was to determine the intrinsic and extrinsic factors associated with adult stroke survivors’ inconsistent uptake of physiotherapy interventions at Turton Community Health Centre, Ugu District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 50 stroke survivors who missed one or more of their physiotherapy appointments and 25 who attended all their appointments (comparison group) within a 2-year period. A researcher-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data, which was captured and analysed using SPSS v25. Results were summarised using descriptive statistics. Pearson’s chi-square test was used for bivariate analysis.

Results: Only two intrinsic factors were significantly associated with the outcome variable, namely: believed in exercises recommended by physiotherapists (χ² = 3.86, p = 0.049) and improvements noted from the start of recommended exercises (χ² = 9.439, p = 0.007). Transportation, including hiring of private cars (74%) and being far away from the health facility (48%), were key extrinsic challenges affecting access to health facilities.

Conclusion: Personal reasons and the difficulty in accessing health facilities were main factors affecting stroke survivors’ uptake of physiotherapy interventions.

Clinical implications: Design of patient-tracking and family support systems may potentially improve the stroke survivors’ uptake of physiotherapy interventions.