Background/Aims-People with stroke continue to lead sedentary lives despite the multiple benefits of exercise. Knowledge regarding stroke survivors' conception of exercise, which is essential for a thorough understanding of the barriers and facilitators to exercise, is lacking. This study aims to explore the perceptions of exercise among stroke survivors, including their concepts and definitions of exercise, as well as their perceptions of barriers and facilitators to exercise.

This pilot study suggests that exercise and recreation may improve memory and executive functions of community-dwelling individuals with stroke. Further studies require a larger sample size and a control group.

Study design: This was a prospective cross-sectional study for people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Objectives: To (1) evaluate the intensity level and nature of physical activity in community-dwelling individuals living with SCI, and (2) explore the relation between descriptive individual variables (for example, lesion level), secondary complications and participation in physical activity. Setting: Urban community setting. Methods: A total of 49 subjects with SCI who used a manual wheelchair for primary mode of mobility (mean years since injury, 11.8; mean age, 43.7 years; 67% paraplegia) completed the physical activity recall assessment for people with SCI (PARA-SCI).Results: Approximately 50% of reported physical activity among individuals with SCI is due to activities of daily living. The amount of physical activity was not related to lesion level, age, body mass index or waistline size. Greater heavy-intensity activity was related to lower levels of pain and fatigue and higher levels of self-efficacy, whereas higher amounts of mild-intensity activity and total activity were related to less depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Activities of daily living are a large component for physical activity among individuals with SCI. It appears that greater physical activity is associated with less secondary complications (pain, fatigue and depression) in individuals with SCI.