People with stroke spend more time in active task practice, but similar time in walking practice, when physiotherapy rehabilitation is provided in circuit classes compared to individual therapy sessions: an observational study

Circuit class therapy sessions were of a longer duration (mean difference 38.0 minutes, 95% CI 29.9 to 46.1), and participants spent more time engaged in active task practice (mean difference 23.8 minutes, 95% CI 16.1 to 31.4) compared with individual sessions. A greater percentage of time in circuit class therapy sessions was spent practising tasks in sitting (mean difference 5.3%, 95% CI 2.4 to 8.2) and in sit-to-stand practice (mean difference 2.7%, 95% CI 1.4 to 4.1), and a lower percentage of time in walking practice (mean difference 19.1%, 95% CI 10.0 to 28.1) compared with individual sessions. Participants took an average of 371 steps (SD 418) during therapy sessions and this did not differ significantly between group and individual sessions. Conclusion: People with stroke spent more time in active task practice, but a similar amount of time in walking practice when physiotherapy was offered in circuit class therapy sessions versus individual therapy sessions. There is a need for effective strategies to increase the amount of walking practice during physiotherapy sessions for people after stroke. [English C, Hillier S, Kaur G, Hundertmark L (2014) People with stroke spend more time in active task practice, but similar time in walking practice, when physiotherapy rehabilitation is provided in circuit classes compared to individual therapy sessions: an observational study. Journal of Physiotherapy 60: 50-54]