A recent study published in Neurology on December 17, 2025, examined recovery outcomes in the first year following an ischemic stroke and found that women had slightly poorer recovery than men when it came to daily tasks such as eating, dressing, and driving. Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke and occurs when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked.
"Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the U.S. and with the aging population, the number of stroke survivors is growing," said Chen Chen, PhD, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "Since many people live with physical, cognitive and emotional challenges after stroke, it is important to find ways to improve recovery. Our study provides a better understanding of sex differences during stroke recovery."
The research involved 1,046 individuals who experienced their first ischemic stroke. The average age among participants was 66 years old. Researchers collected data from medical records and participant interviews at three points: three months, six months, and twelve months after the stroke event. Participants underwent neurological assessments, cognitive tests, and filled out questionnaires regarding their quality of life.
Recovery was measured by how well participants could perform both simple and complex daily activities like walking, bathing, cooking, and housework. A score of two indicated some difficulty with these tasks; a score of three meant considerable difficulty.
At all three time points—three months, six months, and twelve months—female participants had higher average scores than male participants for daily tasks. For example, at three months post-stroke women averaged a score of 2.39 while men averaged 2.04.
However, over time scores for female participants decreased from three to twelve months after stroke—showing some improvement—while scores for male participants did not change as much.
Researchers adjusted for several factors including age, race or ethnicity, education level and insurance status before analyzing results further. They found that women's average scores were still higher by 0.13 at three months; by 0.10 at six months; and by 0.09 at twelve months compared to men's scores—all indicating slightly worse recovery for women but with small effect sizes.
Both sexes showed improvement in neurological function over time—a category that includes communication abilities and performing basic movements—but there were no significant sex differences noted in this area.
"Our results suggest that early and repeated assessments of a person's ability to do daily tasks after stroke are needed, and particularly for female individuals, in order to reduce these differences in recovery," said Chen. "When developing new interventions, these recovery patterns should be considered. Since the differences were mainly in activities such as doing heavy housework, shopping and carrying heavy weights, new interventions could include muscle-strengthening activities."
One limitation acknowledged by researchers was the lack of data about whether or how much rehabilitation services were used by participants during their recovery period.
The National Institutes of Health provided funding support for this study.
