RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL BARRIERS AND PARTICIPATION IN STROKE SURVIVORS IN BENIN: AN ONGOING CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

A.S. Honado1, O.L.G. Atigossou2,3, P.M. Mitchaї3, G.M. Houngbédji3, F.S.D. Akplogan4, F. Routhier2, V.H. Flamand2, C.S. Batcho21Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Départemental de l’Ouémé et du Plateau (CHUD-OP), Service de Rééducation, Porto-Novo, Benin, 2Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (Cirris), Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, 3Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC), École Supérieure de Kinésithérapie (ESK), Cotonou, Benin, 4Hôpital Communal de Kétou, Service de Kinésithérapie, Kétou, BeninBackground: Most stroke survivors face daily living challenges due to functional, cognitive, and psychosocial consequences of the stroke, leading to participation restrictions.Purpose: To investigate the relationships between environmental barriers and the participation in stroke survivors in Benin, a developing country of West Africa.Methods: Forty-four stroke survivors (27 males; mean age: 54.1 ± 11.5 years old; time since stroke median/interquartile range: 10/37 months) who had cognitive abilities to engage in self-reported measurements (Score of Mini Mental State Examination ≥ 24/30) were enrolled since study onset. Environmental barriers were measured by interview using an experimental French adapted version of the questionnaire Measure of Stroke Environment (MOSE-Benin). Then, participants completed the interview-based Participation Measurement scale (PM-scale), a questionnaire validated in stroke survivors in Benin. MOSE-Benin has three subdomains (acceptability, physical environment, and communication) which scores are calculated separately, while PM-scale lead to a unique global score. High scores in MOSE-Benin subdomains and in PM-scale mean less environmental barriers and less participation restrictions, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were calculated between MOSE-Benin subdomains scores and PM-scale scores to screen how environmental barriers relate to participation in stroke survivors in Benin.Results: The mean scores of MOSE-Benin subdomains (acceptability: 56.6 ± 19.7%; physical environment: 57.6 ± 22.9%; communication: 79.3 ± 15.2%), and the mean score of PM-scale: 70.4 ± 10.3% were reported in the participants. Correlations were moderate between PM-scale sores and MOSE-Benin subdomains scores (r = 0.69; p < 0.001, r = 0.59; p < 0.001, r = 0.57; p < 0.001 for acceptability, physical environment and communication, respectively).Conclusions: There was a positive correlation between environmental barriers and participation in stroke survivors in Benin. Low levels of environmental barriers are associated with lower participation restrictions. Results from a larger sample are needed to confirm this conclusion.Implications: To improve participation levels of stroke survivors in Benin, health professionals, including physiotherapists, should measure the environmental barriers they face over time in their communities, and the results might guide personalized care programs for successful rehabilitation.Funding acknowledgements: There is no funding associated with this workKeywords:Stroke survivors in BeninEnvironmental barriersParticipationTopics:Neurology: strokeDisability & rehabilitationNeurologyDid this work require ethics approval? YesInstitution: École Supérieure de Kinésithérapie (ESK)Committee: Research ethics committee of University of ParakouEthics number: N°0505/CLERB-UP/P/SP/R/SAAll authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.