Background Community exercise might be beneficial to stroke recovery. However, the
results remained controversial. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore
the effect of community exercise on stroke patients.
Methods PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases were
systematically searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of community
exercise vs. usual care on stroke were included. Two investigators independently searched
articles, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included studies. The primary outcome
were 6-Minute walk test and walking speed. Metaanalysis was performed using random-effect
model.
Results Four RCTs involving 497 patients were included in the metaanalysis. Overall,
compared with control intervention, community exercise intervention was found to significantly
improve 6-Minute walk distance (Std. mean difference=0.48; 95% CI=0.22
to 0.74; P=0.0003), and walking speed (Std. mean difference=0.40; 95%
CI=0.10 to 0.70; P=0.009) in stroke patients, but resulted in no influence on
Berg Balance Scale (Std. mean difference=0.39; 95% CI=−0.29 to
1.07; P=0.26), muscle strength (Std. mean difference=0.05; 95%
CI=-0.34 to 0.43; P=0.82) and mental quality of life (Std. mean
difference=0.04; 95% CI=−0.25 to 0.34; P=0.77).
Conclusions Compared to control intervention, community exercise was found to
significantly increase 6-Minute walk test, walking speed and Berg Balance Scale, but showed no
influence on Berg Balance Scale, muscle strength and mental quality of life.