Introduction: A person with lateropulsion actively pushes their body toward their more-affected side, and/or actively resists weight shift toward their less-affected side. Post-stroke lateropulsion is prevalent and associated with poor rehabilitation outcomes, but evidence to guide rehabilitation of people affected is limited. The state of post-stroke lateropulsion rehabilitation across Australia and New Zealand has not been described. This study aimed to ascertain the state of lateropulsion rehabilitation in Australia and New Zealand, determine clinicians’, educators’ and researchers’ opinions about resources required to guide best-practice, and to identify current barriers to, and enablers of, optimal rehabilitation delivery.
Methods: The survey was distributed to stroke rehabilitation clinicians, educators and researchers across Australia and New Zealand using Qualtrics. Quantitative data were described using frequency distributions and Chi-squared tests. Qualitative data were analysed thematically.
Results: The final analyses included 127 surveys. Most participants (93%) were physiotherapists. The importance of identifying and assessing post-stroke lateropulsion was noted by 97.6% of participants; however routine lateropulsion assessment was reported by only 60.6% of respondents. 93.6% of participants indicated that lateropulsion should be targeted as a rehabilitation priority. Limitations in knowledge and skill among clinicians and insufficient evidence to guide rehabilitation were noted as barriers to best-practice rehabilitation delivery. Most respondents (95.2%) indicated that lateropulsion management should be included in stroke rehabilitation guidelines.
Conclusion: A sample of clinicians, educators and researchers involved in stroke rehabilitation across Australia and New Zealand indicated that lateropulsion should be targeted as a rehabilitation priority. Knowledge and skill were identified as main barriers to implementation of best-practice rehabilitation, which could be improved by addressing lateropulsion in clinical practice guidelines.
Relevance to clinical practice or patient experience: Consistent assessment and prioritisation of lateropulsion and addressing lateropulsion in the guidelines are anticipated to improve rehabilitation practices among clinicians, and therefore improve outcomes of people affected.