title: Cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive functioning following short-term interventions in chronic stroke survivors with cognitive impairment: a pilot study.
abstract: This study, a quasi-experimental, one-group pretest-post-test design, evaluated the effects on cognitive functioning and cardiorespiratory fitness of 8-week interventions (aerobic exercise alone and aerobic exercise and cognitive training combined) in patients with chronic stroke and cognitive impairment living in the community (participants: n=14, 61.93±9.90 years old, 51.50±38.22 months after stroke, n=7 per intervention group). Cognitive functions and cardiorespiratory fitness were evaluated before and after intervention, and at a 3-month follow-up visit (episodic memory: revised-Hopkins Verbal Learning Test; working memory: Brown-Peterson paradigm; attention omission and commission errors: Continuous Performance Test; cardiorespiratory fitness: peak oxygen uptake during a symptom-limited, graded exercise test performed on a semirecumbent ergometer). Friedman's two-way analysis of variance by ranks evaluated differences in score distributions related to time (for the two groups combined). Post-hoc testing was adjusted for multiple comparisons. Compared with before the intervention, there was a significant reduction in attention errors immediately following the intervention (omission errors: 14.6±21.5 vs. 8±13.9, P=0.01; commission errors: 16.4±6.3 vs. 10.9±7.2, P=0.04), and in part at follow-up (omission errors on follow-up: 3.4±4.3, P=0.03; commission errors on follow-up: 13.2±7.6, P=0.42). These results suggest that attention may improve in chronic stroke survivors with cognitive impairment following short-term training that includes an aerobic component, without a change in cardiorespiratory fitness. Randomized-controlled studies are required to confirm these findings.
authors.affiliation: aThe Centre for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France bCentre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration cDepartment of Rehabilitation, Laval University dPediatric Intervention Centre for Heart Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation, St. Justine University Medical Centre, Montreal City, Canada.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blanchet
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leblond
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Olivier
authors.forename: Désirée B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Maltais
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000072599:Cardiorespiratory Fitness; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*