Stroke survivors who participated in physical activity programs had improvements in several neurocognitive domains, according to a meta-analysis of 13 clinical trials.

Lead researcher Lauren E. Oberlin, of the University of Pittsburgh, presented the results on Feb. 22 at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Houston.

“Physical activity is extremely helpful for stroke survivors for a number of reasons, and our findings suggest that this may also be a good strategy to promote cognitive recovery after stroke,” Oberlin said in a news release. “We found that a program as short as twelve weeks is effective at improving cognition, and even patients with chronic stroke can experience improvement in their cognition with an exercise intervention.”

The researchers mentioned that 30 percent to 85 percent of stroke survivors have cognitive deficits and are at an increased risk for long-term disability, functional decline, dependent living and mortality. They added that previous research showed that physical activity improved cognitive abilities in patients with dementia, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

For this meta-analysis, the researchers analyzed data on 639 participants from 13 trials that included physical activity training and neurocognitive function assessments. The physical activity training began an average of 2.6 years following strokes.

A mixed-effects model found that physical activity training was associated with significantly greater cognitive gains compared with a control group. Participants who received physical activity training had improvements in working memory, executive function and attention and processing speed.

The researchers noted that interventions lasting less than three months and longer than three months both led to improvements in cognition. However, studies that introduced exercise training three months or longer after strokes had better cognitive improvements compared with studies that introduced exercise training within three months of strokes.

They also mentioned that the most effective interventions combine aerobic training with stretching, toning or balance training.

“Integrating aerobic training into rehabilitation is very important, and for patients with mobility limitations, exercise can be modified so they can still experience increases in their fitness levels,” Oberlin said in a news release. “This has substantial effects on quality of life and functional improvement, and I think it’s really important to integrate this into rehabilitative care and primary practice.”