Mediating role of physical activity in the relationship between psychological distress and intimate relationships among stroke patients

Table 1 General characteristics of the stroke patients

Clinical features	Cases	Constituent ratio (%)
Sex
Male	195	76.17
Female	61	23.83
Age (yr)
< 45	28	10.94
45-60	132	51.56
> 60	96	37.50
BMI (kg/m2)
< 18.5	6	2.34
18.5-23.9	71	27.73
24-27.9	84	32.81
≥ 28	95	37.12
Educational
Primary school or below	73	28.52
Junior high school	103	40.23
Senior high school	42	16.41
College or higher	38	14.84
Personal monthly income (Yuan)
< 1000	68	26.56
1000-3000	61	23.83
3001-5000	69	26.95
> 5000	58	22.66
Payment method
Medical insurance	219	85.55
Private expense	37	14.45
Year of marriage (yr)
< 10	9	3.51
10-20	11	4.30
> 20	236	92.19
Frequency
First	184	71.88
Recurrence	72	28.12
Course (mo)
< 6	193	75.39
6-12	5	1.95
13-36	12	4.69
> 36	46	17.97
Type
Hemorrhagic	9	3.52
Ischemic	241	94.14
Hybrid	6	2.34
Staging
Acute stage	215	83.98
Recovery stage	23	8.98
Sequelae stage	18	7.04
Dysfunction
No	223	87.11
Yes	33	12.89
Long-term medication history
No	121	47.27
Yes	135	52.73
Combined types of chronic diseases (type)
0	89	34.77
1	117	45.70
2	43	16.80
≥ 3	7	2.73
Self-care ability
Heavy dependence	5	1.95
Moderate dependence	66	25.78
Mild dependence	167	65.24
No need to rely on	18	7.03

Table 2 Process method to test the mediating effect

Procedure	Dependent variable	Independent variable	R2	β	F value	t value	P value
Step one	Intimate relationship	Psychological distress	0.536	-0.734	296.150	-17.209	< 0.001
Step two	Physical activity	Psychological distress	0.420	-0.650	185.574	-13.623	< 0.001
Step three	Intimate relationship	Psychological distress	0.655	-0.439	242.710	-9.063	< 0.001
		Physical activity		0.454		9.377	< 0.001

Table 3 Bootstrap analysis of the mediating effect

Index	Effect	SE	t value	P value	95%CI
Direct effect	-0.422	0.047	-9.062	< 0.001	-0.514 to -0.330
Indirect effect	-0.284	0.064	-	-	-0.409 to -0.163
Total effect	-0.706	0.041	-17.209	< 0.001	-0.786 to -0.625

CI: Confidence interval.