O4‐12‐05: Regular Participation in Prestroke Leisure Activities Reduced Risks of Dementia and Improved Cognitive Functions after Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack: Results from the Stride Study

To examine the effects of recent past leisure activities participation upon cognitive functions and risk of incident dementia after stroke. In the Stroke Registry Investigating Cognitive Decline (STRIDE) study, 88 of 1,013 patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) having no prestroke dementia were diagnosed to have incident poststroke dementia (PSD) 3-6 months after the index event. Regular participation was defined as participation of ≥30 minutes within 24 hours for ≥3 times a week in intellectual, recreational, social and physical activities over the year before the index event. Logistic regression analyses showed that regular participation in intellectual (RR 0.36, 95%CI 0.20-0.63) and stretching & toning physical exercise (0.37, 0.21-0.64) was significantly associated with a reduced risk of PSD after controlling for age, education, prestroke cognitive decline, stroke subtype, prior strokes and chronic brain changes including white matter changes, old infarcts and global atrophy. Results were similar in patients with past strokes in unadjusted models. Participation in increased number of activities in general (r=0.41, p<0.01) and in intellectual (r=0.40, p<0.01), recreational (r=0.24, p<0.01), strenuous aerobic (r=0.23, p<0.01) and mind-body (r=0.10, p<0.01) activities was associated with higher Mini-mental State Examination scores poststroke in models adjusted for prestroke cognitive decline. Regular participation in intellectual activities and stretching & toning exercise was associated with a significantly reduced short-term risk of PSD in stroke or TIA patients with and without prior strokes. Participation in greater number of recent past leisure activities was associated with better poststroke cognitive performance.