Research
Mixed
For stroke rehabilitation, exercise interventions are significantly more effective than drug interventions (anticoagulants and antiplatelets) in reducing mortality.
After a stroke, engaging in rehabilitation exercise (cardiorespiratory and muscle strengthening) is associated with a significantly lower risk of death compared to standard drug treatments. Discuss exercise-based rehab with your healthcare provider.
LimitedSupportsLOW confidence
Physical activity interventions were more effective than drug treatment among patients with stroke (odds ratios, exercise v anticoagulants 0.09, 95% credible intervals 0.01 to 0.70 and exercise v antiplatelets 0.10, 0.01 to 0.62).
Why this rating
Very small number of exercise trials (3 trials, n=227) leads to considerable uncertainty despite statistical significance.
Source
Comparative effectiveness of exercise and drug interventions on mortality outcomes: metaepidemiological study
Huseyin Naci et al. · BMJ · 2013
DOI 10.1136/bmj.f5577
Meta-analysis · 305 studiesCited 634×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- For secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, exercise interventions provide mortality benefits statistically equivalent to standard drug therapies (statins, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, antiplatelets).Moderate
- For prediabetes prevention, neither exercise nor drug interventions show statistically significant mortality benefits compared to control or each other.Moderate
- For heart failure treatment, diuretics are more effective than exercise interventions in reducing mortality.Limited
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