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Cited by 829Physical Activity and HealthCardiovascular and exercise physiologyAcute Ischemic Stroke Management

Physical Activity and Stroke Risk: A Meta-Analysis

Lee, Chong Do, Folsom, Aaron R., Blair, Steven N.·2003·Stroke
DOI 10.1161/01.str.0000091843.02517.9d
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Abstract

Background and Purpose— Whether physical activity reduces stroke risk remains controversial. We used a meta-analysis to examine the overall association between physical activity or cardiorespiratory fitness and stroke incidence or mortality. Methods— We searched MEDLINE from 1966 to 2002 and identified 23 studies (18 cohort and 5 case-control) that met inclusion criteria. We estimated the overall relative risk (RR) of stroke incidence or mortality for highly and moderately active individuals versus individuals with low levels of activity using the general variance–based method. Results— The meta-analysis documented that there was a reduction in stroke risk for active or fit individuals compared with inactive or unfit persons in cohort, case-control, and both study types combined. For cohort studies, highly active individuals had a 25% lower risk of stroke incidence or mortality (RR=0.75; 95% CI, 0.69 to 0.82) compared with low-active individuals. For case-control studies, highly active individuals had a 64% lower risk of stroke incidence (RR=0.36; 95% CI, 0.25 to 0.52) than their low-active counterparts. When we combined both the cohort and case-control studies, highly active individuals had a 27% lower risk of stroke incidence or mortality (RR=0.73; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.79) than did low-active individuals. We observed similar results in moderately active individuals compared with inactive persons (RRs were 0.83 for cohort, 0.52 for case-control, and 0.80 for both combined). Furthermore, moderately and highly active individuals had lower risk of both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes than low-active individuals. Conclusions— We conclude that moderate and high levels of physical activity are associated with reduced risk of total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic strokes.

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Authors
Lee, C. D., Folsom, A. R., & Blair, S. N.
Affiliations
University of Minnesota (US)
ORCID
Venue
Stroke
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2003-10
Volume
34
Issue
10
Pages
2475-2481
ISSN
  • 0039-2499 (ISSN-L)
  • 1524-4628
DOI
10.1161/01.str.0000091843.02517.9d
OpenAlex
W2084023315
Cited by
829
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 53 · 2014: 52 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 44
FWCI
13.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Stroke (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (AG06945)
  • National Institute on Aging (AG06945)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32 HL07779, T32HL007779)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Acute Ischemic Stroke Management
Keywords
physical activity, stroke risk, cardiorespiratory fitness, stroke incidence, stroke mortality, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, stroke prevention
MeSH terms
Aged, Australia, Cerebral Hemorrhage, Brain Ischemia, England, Female, Humans, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Male, Middle Aged, Motor Activity, Netherlands, Norway, Physical Fitness, Risk, United States, Cohort Studies, Incidence, Odds Ratio, Case-Control Studies, Stroke, Risk Reduction Behavior

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