United States: Studies indicate stroke patients achieve better medical results when physical motion becomes a necessary part of their recovery process after hospital discharge, as reported by HealthDay.
Standard stroke rehabilitation treatment, which includes receiving additional half-hour progressive walking exercises, leads patients to show significant improvements in their quality of life along with enhanced mobility as they return home, based on research findings.
The Power of Progressive Exercise
“Although guidelines recommend structured, progressive exercise after stroke, the uptake of these approaches that have sufficient intensity for rehab programs is still lagging,” researcher Janice Eng, a stroke rehabilitation specialist and professor of physical therapy at the University of British Columbia in Canada, said in a news release.
“Structured and progressively more challenging exercise, aided by wearable devices to provide feedback on intensity, can help people maintain safe intensity levels that are crucial for neuroplasticity — which is the brain’s ability to heal and adapt,” Eng added.
Study Overview and Key Findings
During the study, her team obtained participants from 300 stroke patients who were healing at twelve Canadian facilities. In their initial test, patients managed to walk 500 feet, which equals the length of two typical city blocks.
The participants received randomized assignments between two groups, yet half of them were instructed to perform weight-bearing exercises and walk for a minimum of thirty minutes daily.
Our research team aimed for patients to achieve 2,000 steps of moderate-intensity exercise that lasted thirty minutes for five days each week according to study objectives.
Enhanced Mobility and Quality of Life
Patients involved in walking exercises completed six-minute walk tests at distances that exceeded 140 feet above those of patients following standard post-operative rehab protocols.
Results showed that rehab walkers experienced improved quality of life together with enhanced balance and mobility as well as increased gait speed.
A Real-World Success Story
“The first couple of months after a stroke are when the brain has the greatest ability to change,” Eng said. “Our study shows positive results during the initial rehabilitation stage.”
The study not only demonstrates the advantages of walking in rehabilitation, but it also demonstrates how readily stroke units may incorporate the novel activity into their current curricula, she said.
“This was a very successful real-world trial,” Eng said.
An associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Preeti Raghavan, who examined the results, stated that it is “very difficult to change practice.”
“The researchers show that it can be done on the inpatient rehabilitation unit, at a critical period after stroke when the brain is most plastic,” she said in a news release.
“The protocol increased endurance and further reduced disability after stroke,” added Raghavan, who was not involved in the study. “This is very positive data for stroke recovery.”
Future Implications and Next Steps
The study findings appeared at the American Stroke Association’s annual meeting in Los Angeles earlier this month, as reported by HealthDay.
Medical findings presented at conferences have preliminary nature until they receive review from professional peers through a published journal.