Poster The Joint Annual Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia (SSA) and Smartstrokes 2023

i-Rebound after stroke: A pilot feasibility study of a co-designed website with resources to reduce secondary stroke risk. (#191)

Dina Pogrebnoy 1 2 , Lesley MacDonald-Wicks 1 3 , Amanda Patterson 1 3 , Amy Dennett 4 5 , Jude Czerenkowski 6 , Richard Cullen 6 , Coralie English 1 3
  1. School of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  2. Physiotherapy Department, Western Health, Melbourne, Victoria
  3. Heart and Stroke Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  4. Office of Research, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport Latrobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  6. Stroke Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Background: Physical inactivity and poor diet quality are amongst the highest modifiable risk factors for recurrent stroke. Despite this, very few targeted resources are freely available to help survivors of stroke manage this ongoing risk.

Aims: To test feasibility and usability of a co-designed website that supports survivors of stroke to improve their diet quality and physical activity levels.

Methods: A pre-post, mixed methods, pilot study was conducted with survivors of stroke in August 2022. Demographic data, fruit and vegetable consumption, activity behaviour and self-efficacy ratings for physical activity and diet quality were collected at baseline. Trial participants had unrestricted access for self-directed use of the i-REBOUND website for 4-weeks. Physical activity and diet quality was assessed using the Health Specific Self-Efficacy Scale at baseline and follow up. The Bowens Feasibility framework was used to evaluate feasibility with domains of interest being ‘Acceptability’, ‘Demand’, and ‘Limited Efficacy’. The System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to evaluate usability.

Results: Recruited survivors of stroke (n=42) were mostly females (52%) aged 30 to 80 years. Majority did not meet physical activity (84%) and vegetable consumption (88%) recommendations. Over half of enrolled participants (53%) used the website at least once a week throughout the trial and almost all (90%) found weekly reminders helpful. Improvements in self-efficacy were reported in 1 domain relating to diet quality and in 4 domains relating to physical activity. Participants reported positive changes in eating habits (48%) and activity levels (57%) after using the i-REBOUND website and rated usability as ‘above average’ with a SUS score of 73. Participants found content on the website motivating and felt the i-REBOUND website was easy to navigate.

Conclusions: Our results indicated that websites specifically designed for secondary prevention are accessible to survivors of stroke and have the potential to facilitate positive behaviour change.