Effect and efficacy of lifestyle interventions as secondary prevention

Introduction: Improvements in health behaviour are often recommended as part of secondary prevention in patients with stroke and transient ischaemic attack. However, there is a lack of knowledge as to how this is applied in clinical practice. Aim: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we examined the effect of counselling or educational intervention directed at individual or multiple behavioural risk factors on blood pressure and other reported outcomes. Methods: PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Scopus and Web of Science were systematically searched. Meta-analyses were conducted on all outcome measures if appropriate. A qualitative analysis of the content of the interventions was conducted to review which elements the interventions consisted of. Results: Twenty-nine randomized controlled trials were identified. Fourteen reported effects on systolic blood pressure, and pooled results showed a significant beneficial effect (n = 2,222; −3.85 mmHg [95%CI −6.43; −1.28]). The effect was greatest in the four interventions which included supervised training (n = 174; −9.83 mmHg [95%CI −16.56; −3.09]). Conclusion: Modifying health behaviour in stroke survivors might have a moderate beneficial effect on blood pressure, especially if the intervention includes supervised physical training.