Three-week exercise and protein intake immediately after exercise increases the 6-min walking distance with simultaneously improved plasma volume in patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease: a preliminary prospective study

Table 1 Characteristics of the participants

	PG (n = 8)	CG (n = 8)	P values
Age, years	76.1 (5.3)	75.6 (6.9)	0.873
Sex, women/men	5/3	3/5	0.317
Height, cm	153.4 (4.5)	157.4 (8.9)	0.269
BMI, kg/m²	23.11 (1.68)	23.10 (3.10)	0.993
Disease type, haemorrhage/infarction	3/5	3/5	1.000
Paralyzed side, right/left	4/4	3/5	0.614
Use of walking brace	1	1	1.000
Use of cane	4	4	1.000
Time since onset, months	42 (33)	66 (38)	0.196
Fugl-Meyer Assessment (total 226) ¶	210.7 (10.8)	209.3 (14.3)	0.828
Motor function score of FMA (total 100) ¶	90 (5.5)	92.4 (3.6)	0.854

Values are shown as means (SD) and numbers of each relevant item for a total of 16 ambulatory patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease. PG, intervention group, in which participants ingested high protein jelly within 30 min after each exercise session (n = 8; containing 10 g protein); CG, control group, intaking protein-free jelly (n = 8); Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) is a stroke-specific, performance-based impairment index [28]. FMA, an index of physical dysfunction in patients with hemiplegia, consisted of assessments for motor functions of the upper (66) and lower extremities (34), sensory (24), balance (14), ranges of motion (44), and joint pain during exercise (44), with a total score of 226 in 7 and 8 participants in PG and CG, respectively ¶. Regarding motor function score of FMA, which consists of upper and lower extremities, total of which is 100, Duncan et al. classified as follows: 0–35, severe; 36–55, moderately severe; 56–79, moderate; and 80 or greater as mild [53]. P values of the unpaired t-test or χ² test are shown

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