Physical Activity Behavior and Its Association With Global Cognitive Function Three Months After Stroke: The Nor-COAST Study†.

The study measured cognition and activity at one time point, so it cannot show that cognition caused activity or that activity caused cognition. People with severe stroke, very poor physical capacity, or aphasia were not well represented or could be excluded by MoCA, so results may not apply to those patients. Participants had to have at least 4 days of valid accelerometer data and MoCA data; those not included were older and more likely to live alone. Activity was limited to standing and walking; other activities such as strength training or sitting high-intensity movements were not measured. The accelerometer may overestimate standing and underestimate light walking, and wearing it may have changed behavior. The sample was mostly White and from Norway, a high-income country, so generalizability to other settings is uncertain. Because almost 70% met guidelines, the odds ratios for nonadherence may have been overestimated.

Funding: Norwegian Health Association, Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, and Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The funders played no role in design, conduct, or reporting.

Do not read this as evidence that treating cognition will increase activity. The study measured association at one time point, and physical capacity helped explain the link, so causality was not tested.