A real lift during stroke rehabilitation, but harder to prove later

Researchers combined results from 30 randomized controlled trials involving 1,836 adults after a stroke or transient ischemic attack. The trials focused on health-related quality of life, which captures how people feel and function in everyday life rather than only scores on physical tests.

At the end of the exercise programmes, the pooled results showed a small to moderate improvement in quality of life. At longer-term follow-up, the difference shrank and was not clearly distinguishable from no difference, so the lasting benefit is uncertain.

The improvement was concentrated in physical and mental health aspects of quality of life. Physical health and mental health scores improved moderately, while social or cognitive composites showed little difference.

The most favourable results came from exercise programmes that started within six months after the event, lasted at least twelve weeks, involved at least 150 minutes per week, and included resistance training.

The review concluded that exercise can lead to moderate beneficial effects on quality of life and should be considered an integral part of stroke rehabilitation. The main limitation is that longer-term benefit is less certain, but that does not mean exercise lost its value during the rehabilitation period.