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Effect of long-term physical exercise and multidomain interventions on cognitive function and the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis
Imanol Reparaz-Escudero, Mikel Izquierdo, Heike A Bischoff-Ferrari, P Martínez-Lage, Mikel L Sáez de Asteasu. Ageing research reviews, 2024-08-22
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Sixteen trials, including 11,402 participants (mean age 73.2 [±5.5] years; 62.3 % female) were examined. The risk of bias was low. Moderate-certainty evidence indicated that physical exercise interventions had modest to no effect on cognitive function (k= 9, SMD: 0.05; 95 % CI: -0.04-0.13; p = 0.25), whereas multidomain interventions were significantly impactful (k=7, SMD: 0.09; 95 % CI: 0.04-0.15; p < 0.01). Physical exercise interventions did not alter MCI risk (k= 4, RR: 0.98; 95 % CI: 0.73-1.31; p = 0.79) or dementia onset (k= 4, RR: 0.61; 95 % CI: 0.25-1.52; p = 0.19), with very low-to low-certainty evidence, respectively. Integrative multidomain strategies incorporating physical exercise may benefit the global cognitive function of older adults. However, long-term physical exercise alone did not yield any cognitive gains. The effectiveness of such exercise interventions to mitigate the overall risk of incident MCI and dementia warrants further research.
Key findings
- Sixteen trials, including 11,402 participants (mean age 73.2 [±5.5] years; 62.3 % female) were examined.
- Moderate-certainty evidence indicated that physical exercise interventions had modest to no effect on cognitive function (k= 9, SMD: 0.05; 95 % CI: -0.04-0.13; p = 0.25), whereas multidomain interventions were significantly impactful (k=7, SMD: 0.09; 95 % CI: 0.04-0.15; p < 0.01).
- Physical exercise interventions did not alter MCI risk (k= 4, RR: 0.98; 95 % CI: 0.73-1.31; p = 0.79) or dementia onset (k= 4, RR: 0.61; 95 % CI: 0.25-1.52; p = 0.19), with very low-to low-certainty evidence, respectively.
- Integrative multidomain strategies incorporating physical exercise may benefit the global cognitive function of older adults.
- However, long-term physical exercise alone did not yield any cognitive gains.
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Study details
- Participants11,402
- Effect sizeRR: 0.98; RR: 0.61
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 89/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 50 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 89 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Ageing research reviews) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies (from PubMed type “Meta-Analysis”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2024 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 11,402 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 39179115) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 50 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 50 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 89 out of 100. |
| Total | 89 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Reparaz-Escudero, I., Izquierdo, M., Bischoff-Ferrari, H. A., Martínez-Lage, P., & de Asteasu, M. L. S. (2024). Effect of long-term physical exercise and multidomain interventions on cognitive function and the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Ageing research reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2024.102463
Vancouver
Reparaz-Escudero I, Izquierdo M, Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Martínez-Lage P, de Asteasu MLS. Effect of long-term physical exercise and multidomain interventions on cognitive function and the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Ageing research reviews. 2024. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2024.102463. PMID: 39179115.
BibTeX
@article{reparazescudero2024-39179115,
author = {Reparaz-Escudero, Imanol and Izquierdo, Mikel and Bischoff-Ferrari, Heike A and Martínez-Lage, P and de Asteasu, Mikel L Sáez},
title = {{Effect of long-term physical exercise and multidomain interventions on cognitive function and the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis}},
journal = {Ageing research reviews},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1016/j.arr.2024.102463},
pmid = {39179115},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2024.102463}
}