Participation in leisure activities after stroke: A survey of community-residing stroke survivors in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Leisure provides pleasure and relaxation, and has health benefits even after a stressful and life-changing event such as a stroke. OBJECTIVE: This study examined leisure participation among a sample of community-residing stroke survivors in Nigeria. METHODS: Fifty-five stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation were consecutively recruited from two government hospitals in Northern Nigeria. Data on pre- and post-stroke participation, and socio-demographic (age, sex, marital, employment, and educational status) and clinical (level of disability, post-stroke duration, stroke type and side of hemiplegia/hemiparesis) attributes of the stroke survivors were obtained. Leisure participation was assessed in four domains of recreational, social, cognitive, and productive/creative activities. Associations between leisure participation and the socio-demographic and clinical variables were examined using bivariate analysis. RESULTS: Mean (SD) age of the stroke survivors was 53.55 (14.39) years. Prevalence of leisure participation was 89.1%. Participation in specific leisure domains however varied thus: social (83.6%), cognitive (60%), recreational (41.8%), productive/creative activities (30.9%). Significant associations were observed between participation in cognitive, productive/creative, and recreational leisure activities, and specific socio-demographic and clinical attributes. CONCLUSIONS: Leisure participation was high in a general sense but marginal in recreational and productive/creative activities. The observed socio-demographic and clinical associations with post-stroke leisure participation may assist in providing effective leisure rehabilitation strategies.