Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability in adults. Subsequently stroke survivors are often left with physical impairments that limit their ability to do every day activities of daily living. Unfortunately, not all patients are receiving the type of care and rehabilitation they need to have the best possible improvement. The primary aim of stroke rehabilitation is to enhance quality of life and degree of participation in the community. Social participation is a person's involvement in activities that provide interaction with others in society or the community. It reflects the performance of life habits and it is one of the most important elements of stroke rehabilitation. Despite the fact that social participation is critical to the success of reintegration of people with stroke back into the community after their stay in the hospital, the literature in this area has not been collated previously to our knowledge. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine if rehabilitation interventions improve social participation among stroke survivors based on the evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: We searched eight electronic databases for relevant RCTs that looked at the effects of an intervention on the outcome of social participation after stroke. Reference lists of selected articles were hand-searched to identify further relevant studies. Quality of the studies was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale. Results: 24 RCTs involving 2042 stroke survivors were identified and reviewed. There was a small beneficial effect of interventions that utilized exercise on social participation immediately after the program ended. Exercise in combination with other interventions also resulted in beneficial effects. Conclusions: The included studies provide evidence that rehabilitation interventions may be effective in improving social participation after stroke, especially if exercise is a component.