Leisure-Time Physical Activity at All Levels Beneficial for Stroke Prevention

WEDNESDAY, March 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) at all levels seems beneficial for stroke prevention, according to a review published online March 5 in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Federico De Santis, from the University of L'Aquila in Italy, and colleagues searched prospective cohort studies that examined the relationship between different predefined LTPA levels compared with inactivity and the risk for any type of stroke. Fifteen articles with 16 cohorts of patients (752,050 individuals) were included in meta-analyses; participants were followed for a mean of 125.7 ± 77.5 months.

Three to five levels of LTPA were included in the studies (none, below target, and ideal; or none, insufficient, low, moderate, and intense). The researchers found that in the five studies identifying three levels of LTPA, below-target and ideal LTPA significantly reduced stroke risk compared with no LTPA (risk ratios, 0.82 and 0.71, respectively). In six studies reporting on four levels of LTPA and two reporting on five levels, stroke risk was reduced with moderate versus no LTPA (risk ratios, 0.73 and 0.71, respectively). The benefits were independent of age and sex.

"Our data encourage campaigns to overcome sedentary lifestyle and to strive to do the best level of LTPA that people can achieve according to their possibilities, an approach that will pay in terms of stroke prevention even if LTPA goals are met only in part," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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