Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 5, 2025
Author Spotlight: Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients With a Digital Occupational Training System
Published on: December 29, 2023
Cardiorespiratory strain during stroke rehabilitation: Are patients trained enough? A systematic review
Vicky Girard1, Hubert Bellavance-Tremblay1, Gabrielle Gaudet-Drouin1
1Department of rehabilitation, Laval University, 1050, avenue de la Médecine, QC, G1V0A6 Quebec, Canada.
Background:
Rehabilitation is a mandatory component of stroke management, aiming to recover functional capacity and independence. To that end, physical therapy sessions must involve adequate intensity in terms of cardiopulmonary stress to meet the physiological demands of independent living.
Objective:
The aim of this systematic review was to determine the current level of cardiopulmonary strain during rehabilitation sessions in stroke patients.
Methods:
Three electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL and Embase. com) were searched to identify observational studies that documented cardiopulmonary strain during rehabilitation sessions in post-stroke patients (last search performed in February 2019). A manual cross-referencing search was also performed. To be included, articles needed to report data related to both cardiopulmonary strain (heart rate, oxygen consumption or energy expenditure) and active therapy time. The methodological quality of each study was assessed with the Evidence-Based Librarianship Critical Appraisal Tool. Data related to both cardiorespiratory strain and active therapy time were extracted from selected articles.
Results:
Four of 43 full-text articles assessed for eligibility met the inclusion criteria. Results extracted from these articles suggested that the intensity of rehabilitation sessions was insufficient to induce a cardiopulmonary training effect in a post-stroke context as measured by metabolic stress. Patients were inactive from 21% to 80% of the therapy time. The Evidence-Based Librarianship tool scores ranged from 65% (15/23) to 91% (21/23), which indicates questionable to good quality.
Conclusion:
The current literature on cardiopulmonary solicitation during stroke rehabilitation sessions is poor in terms of both the number of studies available and their methodological quality. Summarized results tend to support previous claims that rehabilitation sessions offered to stroke patients are of suboptimal cardiopulmonary strain, which can interfere with their capacity to regain functional independence.
More Related Videos
05:28Author Spotlight: Enhancing Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke Patients Through Advanced Robotic and Neuromodulation Technologies
Published on: October 11, 2024
06:00A Rehabilitation Program of Exoskeleton-assisted Body Weight-Supported Treadmill Training with Non-immersive Virtual Reality for Stroke Patients
Published on: May 16, 2025
Related Concept Videos
01:20Exercise and Cardiovascular Response
Light to moderate physical activity initiates a series of interconnected responses in the body. The heart rate modestly increases in anticipation of the workout, followed by widespread vasodilation as oxygen consumption by skeletal muscles increases. This results in decreased peripheral resistance, increased capillary blood flow, and accelerated...
01:22Cardiac Output II: Effect of Stroke Volume on Cardiac Output
Preload
Preload refers to the initial elongation of the cardiac myocytes before contraction and is related to the volume of blood filling the heart at the end of diastole, or end-diastolic volume. The...
01:27Regulation of Stroke Volume
Preload refers to the degree of stretch on the heart before it contracts. It's analogous to the stretching of a rubber band; the more it's stretched, the more forcefully it snaps back. This concept is encapsulated in the Frank-Starling law of the...