Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jul 15, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 15, 2025 - Sep 9, 2025
Date Accepted: Nov 10, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Physical Activity Interventions for Patients with Post-Stroke Fatigue: A Scoping Review Protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Post-stroke fatigue (PSF) affects approximately 50% of stroke survivors, seriously hindering their functional recovery and reducing their quality of life. Post-stroke fatigue (PSF) affects nearly 50% of stroke survivors, severely impacting functional recovery and quality of life. Physical activity (PA) interventions have demonstrated potential in alleviating fatigue. However, existing evidence varies across different research designs and intervention types, and a systematic summary has yet to be established.
Objective:
This review systematically organizes the literature on PA interventions in PSF, clarifies key concepts, identifies evidence gaps, and examines implementation characteristics, with the goal of providing guidance for future research.
Methods:
Following Arksey and O'Malley’s five-step framework, we will search PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library from 2000 to 2025. Grey literature and trial registries will also be included. Two independent reviewers will screen titles, abstracts, and full texts based on predefined eligibility criteria. Data extraction will focus on intervention components, fatigue assessment tools, and implementation outcomes.
Results:
The results of this study are expected to finish in December 2026.
Conclusions:
This scoping review protocol outlines a systematic approach to mapping the scope and characteristics of physical activity interventions for post-stroke fatigue (PSF). The findings will enhance understanding of existing evidence and inform future research and clinical practice in stroke rehabilitation. Clinical Trial: The study plan has been registered with the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/MKCQ6).
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.