Efficacy and Preliminary Mechanism of Precise Exercise Prescriptions for Anxiety, Depression, and Cognitive Function in Patients with Stroke: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background In the current rehabilitation environment, emotional issues and cognitive dysfunctions in stroke patients are often overshadowed by physical, speech, and swallowing difficulties, leading to their underestimation in clinical rehabilitation. This oversight can result in adverse outcomes, impacting the overall success of rehabilitation. Currently, clinical treatments primarily rely on pharmacotherapy to alleviate symptoms, which has limited effectiveness and can cause a range of adverse reactions. Objective To observe the efficacy of precision exercise prescriptions on anxiety, depression, and cognitive functions in stroke patients and to preliminarily analyze the underlying mechanisms of action. Methods A total of 84 stroke patients hospitalized in the Rehabilitation Department of Changzhou Dean Hospital from January 2022 to March 2023 were selected. They were randomly divided into a control group (42 patients) and an experimental group (42 patients). The control group received standard rehabilitation treatment, while the experimental group received precision exercise prescriptions based on cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) results in addition to standard rehabilitation, over 12 weeks. The Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, and Homocysteine (Hcy) levels were compared before and after rehabilitation training in both groups. A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted between pre-rehabilitation Hcy levels and SAS, SDS, MMSE scores. Results All 42 patients in the experimental group completed the CPET and the 12-week precision exercise prescription rehabilitation without any adverse events. Before rehabilitation training, there were no statistically significant differences in SAS, SDS, MMSE scores, and Hcy levels between the two groups (P>0.05). After rehabilitation training, the scores of SAS, SDS, and Hcy levels in the experimental group were significantly lower compared to pre-treatment values (P0.05). Pearson correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between Hcy levels and SAS, SDS scores (r-values of 0.420 and 0.507, respectively, P