Objectives

The purpose of this study was to document current physiotherapy practices for people with acute and early subacute stroke and secondary explore its relationships with the physiotherapists’ profile in Benin.

Methods

In this prospective observational study, physiotherapists working with acute stroke patients documented from six hospitals in Benin the content of their treatment sessions including activities, interventions, and volume of sessions at baseline, 2-week, and 1-month post-stroke with a standardized physiotherapy documentation form.

Results

Fifteen physiotherapists recorded treatment sessions for 77 stroke people. The pre-functional activities, sitting, pre-gait and gait covered more than 58% of the total treatment time. Most frequently used interventions to facilitate these activities were balance training, passive range of motion/stretching, postural awareness, and strengthening/motor control while endurance exercises were the least frequently used interventions. Patients received median nine sessions, 45 minutes/session and five sessions/week during two weeks of intervention program. However, less time was spent on mild stroke patients than on moderate and severe stroke patients (p < 0.001) and the treatment time administered did not change at 2-week and 1-month compared to baseline. Age (p <0.05), sex (p <0.01), experience (p <0.01), education level (p <0.01) and institution (p <0.01) of the physiotherapists were significantly correlated [magnitude range: -0.397; 0.466] with volume of sessions.

Conclusion

Acute stroke physiotherapists mainly used therapist-led activities while endurance exercise training recognized as a key component for stroke rehabilitation were rarely employed. The volume of physiotherapy sessions depended on stroke severity and influenced by physiotherapists’ profile.