The effects of multicomponent rehabilitation exercise plus soymilk on cognitive impairment and ischemic lesion growth in stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the effects of a multicomponent rehabilitation exercise, coupled with soymilk intake post-exercise, on cognitive impairment and ischemic lesion growth among acute stroke patients. METHODS: In a four-arm, single-blind, randomized clinical trial, 120 patients with acute stroke were randomly allocated to one of the following groups: 1) the MRE + soymilk, 2) the MRE, 3) the soymilk, and 4) the control group. Each group underwent their respective intervention for a continuous duration of 20 days. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and the growth of ischemic lesions was evaluated through CT scans. RESULTS: The MRE combined with soymilk intervention demonstrated statistically significant improvements in cognitive impairment among acute stroke patients (χ² = 51.055, p = 0.000). Group differences began to emerge from Week, with improvements observed across all dimensions of cognitive function, except for abstraction. No significant differences were observed between groups in terms of ischemic lesion growth (χ² =0.934, p = 0.810). CONCLUSION: The incorporation of a multicomponent rehabilitation exercise combined with soymilk ingestion demonstrated effectiveness in alleviating cognitive impairment among acute stroke patients. Nevertheless, it did not influence the growth of ischemic lesions.