Housework, gardening or DIY have no protective effect on stroke. However, exercising in your free time and using active modes of transport reduce the risk of suffering a stroke.
- Recreational and transportation-related physical activities reduce the risk of stroke, death, and dependence on assistance for daily tasks three months after stroke.
- However, this is not the case for physical activities carried out at home or during working hours.
- To reduce the number of strokes, the authors encourage people to be more active, including walking, cycling and exercising, every day.
Are domain-specific physical activity levels associated with stroke incidence and outcomes in the general population? This is the question that researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden asked. To answer this question, the team conducted a study in which they examined the associations between leisure time, work time, transportation time, and household physical activity with stroke incidence and death or being dependent on someone else for activities of daily living three months after a stroke.
For the study, the scientists recruited 3,614 people aged 24 to 77 from the Västra Götaland region. From 2001 to 2004, the participants answered questionnaires about their physical activity, and then 1,394 volunteers were re-interviewed from 2014 to 2016. Some adults also had to wear a pedometer to measure the number of steps taken over a 6-day period. According to the data, 269 patients suffered a stroke during the 20-year follow-up. Of these, 120 had died or were dependent on assistance with daily living activities three months after the stroke.
Exercising in your free time and using active modes of transportation to reduce the risk of stroke
The results, published in the journal JAMA Network Openintermediate and high levels of leisure-time physical activity were associated with a reduced incidence of stroke compared with low levels, as was an intermediate level of physical activity during commuting time. Another finding: high levels of leisure-time physical activity were also linked to a reduced risk of death after stroke or becoming dependent on a person to perform activities of daily living.
Physical activities at home or during work time did not reduce the risk of stroke. “Physically demanding jobs are often associated with stress, little opportunity for recovery, air pollution and generally poorer socio-economic conditions, which can counteract the positive effects of physical activity,” has explained Adam Viktorissonlead author of the research.
Walking, cycling: “encouraging people to be physically active in their daily lives”
In further analyses, the authors observed interactions between physical activity and smoking, specifically current or past-year smoking associated with stroke risk only in participants with low or intermediate physical activity, and family history of stroke.
“Encouraging people to be physically active in their daily lives, such as walking, cycling and other types of exercise, may be an important strategy to reduce the number of strokes and improve the prognosis of those who suffer them,” concluded Adam Viktorisson.
