Chest Expansion in Acute Stroke Survivors Admitted to the Stroke Ward of a Tertiary Health Institution: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study
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Abstract
Background: Respiratory dysfunction may occur after stroke, but chest-wall mobility during the acute phase remains insufficiently investigated. This study assessed chest expansion at three anatomical levels and examined its relationships with age, sex, stroke type, and side of hemiparesis.
Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted among 16 consecutively recruited eligible acute-stroke survivors admitted to a tertiary stroke ward. Chest expansion was measured with an inelastic tape at axillary, xiphoid, and umbilical levels. Comparisons with fixed published reference values used one-sample t-tests or exact Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, as appropriate. Spearman correlations assessed relationships with age, while exact Mann–Whitney U tests examined differences by sex, stroke type, and side of hemiparesis. Holm adjustment accounted for multiple comparisons.
Results: Participants had a mean age of 47.75±16.95 years and were assessed at a median of 3.00 days post-stroke. Mean chest expansion was 1.450±0.713 cm, 1.563±0.554 cm, and 1.650±0.483 cm at the axillary, xiphoid, and umbilical levels, respectively. Chest expansion was significantly lower than reference values at all levels after adjustment (all adjusted p<0.001). No age correlations or differences by sex, stroke type, or side of hemiparesis remained significant after adjustment.
Conclusion: Acute-stroke survivors had reduced chest expansion across all three levels compared with published reference values. Multi-level chest expansion measurement may provide a simple bedside screening method for reduced chest-wall mobility. Findings remain preliminary given the small single-centre sample and absence of a concurrently recruited control group.
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