Comparative effectiveness of exercise on cardiorespiratory function or exercise efficiency after stroke: A network meta-analysis of randomized control trials

Fubing Zha; Qiong Wen; Mingchao Zhou; Linlin Shan; Yulong Wang

doi:10.1097/PHM.0000000000002571

Comparative effectiveness of exercise on cardiorespiratory function or exercise efficiency after stroke: A network meta-analysis of randomized control trials

Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2024 Jul 3. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002571. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Fubing Zha¹, Qiong Wen², Mingchao Zhou¹, Linlin Shan¹, Yulong Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rehabilitation, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518035, P.R. China.
² Department of Rehabilitation, Shenzhen Dapeng New District Nanao People's Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518121, P.R. China.

PMID: 38958278
DOI: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002571

Abstract

Objective: The network meta-analysis (NMA) was to compare and rank the effectiveness of different exercises on cardiorespiratory function or exercise efficiency in post-stroke patients.

Design: A NMA of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched. The impact of exercises including individual and combination of aerobic exercise (AE), resistance exercise (RE), task-oriented training (TOT), gait training (GT), breathing exercise (BE), and regular rehabilitation training (RRT) on 6-min walk test (6MWT), peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max), resting heart rate (HRrest), resting systolic blood pressure (SBPrest), and resting diastolic blood pressure (DBPrest) were assessed.

Results: In total, 36 studies were included in the meta-analysis. AEGT (AE + GT) (63.06%) had the highest likelihood of improving 6MWT performance in post-stroke patients. RRTRE (RRT + RE) was the most favourable exercise in terms of 6MWT performance assessing by minimum clinically significant difference (MCID). AERE (AE + RE) had the highest likelihood of improving VO2peak and reducing HRrest in post-stroke patients.

Conclusion: Different types of exercise demonstrated the benefits of improving cardiorespiratory function in stroke patients. Further research is needed to determine the best exercise regimen to maximize the benefits of rehabilitation interventions for post-stroke patients.