Effect of traditional Chinese exercises on the physical and mental health of stroke patients: a meta-analysis.

Background: This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of traditional Chinese exercises on stroke and explore the dose-response relationship between the type of exercise and exercise duration with respect to physical and mental health.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang Database, and China Science and Technology Journal Database to identify published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to stroke patients and traditional Chinese exercise that met the evaluation criteria, from the inception of the database until September 2022. After assessing the quality of the literature, we used RevMan5.4 for data analysis.

Results: A total of 27 RCTs were included. The results of the meta-analysis revealed that motor function [MD = 4.79, 95% CI: (4.14, 5.43), p < 0.001], balance function [MD = 5.25, 95% CI: (3.93, 6.56), p < 0.001], and mental health [MD = -2.42, 95% CI: (-3.92 to -0.92), p = 0.002] were significantly better in the experimental group than in the control group.

Conclusion: Traditional Chinese exercises have a positive effect on the physical and mental health of stroke patients, with the most significant benefit observed in balance function. While traditional Chinese exercises improve exercise capacity and mental health in stroke patients, these improvements are not directly correlated with longer practice time, and there appear to be certain limitations regarding duration.