Trial reportGeneral hospital psychiatry2017
A pilot randomized controlled trial of aerobic exercise as an adjunct to OCD treatment.
Trial report in General hospital psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of exercise on obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of different therapeutic measures combined with aerobic exercise as an intervention in patients with depression: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review of lifestyle interventions to improve weight, physical activity and diet among people with a mental health condition.Systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- The Effects of Combined Physical and Cognitive Training on Inhibitory Control: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The Perception of Physical Health Status in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2019Pooled it
- Associations between domain-specific physical activity, sedentary behavior, and binge drinking among adults in the United States and China: evidence from a cross-sectional study, daily tracking, and randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Predictors of Long-Term Exercise Engagement in Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Role of Physical Activity Enjoyment.Behavior therapy · 2023Trial
- Acute effects of aerobic exercise on negative affect and obsessions and compulsions in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder.Journal of affective disorders · 2019Trial
- Does High-Intensity Exercise Combined with Exposure Sessions Improve Treatment Outcomes in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? A Randomized Controlled Trial in Inpatients.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2026Article
- Comparative Efficacy of Exercise Interventions for Anxiety Disorders: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Psychology research and behavior management · 2026Review
- The bidirectional relationship between severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and lifestyle factors in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a contemporaneous and prospective analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- General somatic health and lifestyle habits in individuals with obsessive- compulsive disorder: an international survey.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Exercise as Treatment for "Stress-Related" Mental Disorders.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Article
- Exercise and Anxiety.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2024Review
- Effects of Physical Activity and Circadian Rhythm on SCL-90 Scores by Factors among College Students.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Psychotherapies and digital interventions for OCD in adults: What do we know, what do we need still to explore?Comprehensive psychiatry · 2023Review
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2019Review
- Perceived physical health in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2019Article
- Anxiety Sensitivity is Associated with Lower Enjoyment and an Anxiogenic Response to Physical Activity in Smokers.Cognitive therapy and research · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe purpose of the current study was to conduct a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of aerobic exercise for decreasing OCD symptom severity, other mental health outcomes, and increasing exercise behaviors and cardiorespiratory fitness among individuals with OCD.
methodFifty-six patients (64% female; mean age=38.8years) with OCD and a Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) score of 16 or greater despite engaging in OCD treatment were randomized to 12-weeks of supervised plus home-based moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (AE; n=28) or to 12-weeks of health education sessions (HE; n=28).
resultsRandom intercepts mixed models examined differences between conditions at post-treatment. Though no difference between conditions on outcomes was observed, both AE and HE showed significant reduction in OCD symptom severity, depression and anxiety at post-treatment. Relative to HE, significant increases were noted in amount of exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness for those in the AE condition. At post-treatment, 30.4% of the AE condition (7 of 23) were treatment-responders (using the commonly accepted measure of 35% symptom reduction from baseline). In the HE condition, 7.7% of the sample (2 of 26) met this criterion at post-treatment.
conclusionThe results of this preliminary study suggest that exercise and health-focused interventions may be beneficial adjuncts to existing OCD treatment. Future studies with larger samples are needed to more definitively answer questions the efficacy of AE for reducing OCD symptoms and improving related clinical outcomes.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.