Interactions between minimal amount of exercise and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on incident dementia after stroke.

Cognitive impairment often follows stroke. Regular physical activity has been shown to be associated with reduced dementia risk, while the association with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is still not clear. We examined the association of minimal amount of exercise (MAE) and LDL-C with incident dementia after stroke. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the History-Based Artificial Intelligence Clinical Diagnosis of Dementia Syndrome project, including adults aged 50 years or older with stroke from three medical centers in Taiwan. MAE and LDL-C were used to classify individuals. Among 679 post-stroke individuals without dementia at baseline, exercise was associated with better cognitive and functional status. Dementia progression was highest in the low LDL-C/no exercise group and lowest in the high LDL-C/exercise group. Regular MAE, not too low LDL-C levels (≥100 mg/dL), or both combined, were associated with a lower risk of progression to incident dementia.