Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29973193›Full record

SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2018

Physical activity to improve cognition in older adults: can physical activity programs enriched with cognitive challenges enhance the effects? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Freja Gheysen, Louise Poppe, Ann DeSmet, Stephan Swinnen, Greet Cardon, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Sebastien Chastin, Wim Fias

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04788238 (Dual-Task Zumba Gold for Improving the Cognition of Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment), which is not on this map. Cited by 142 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
142citing papers in PubMed, 15 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT04788238 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Dual-Task Zumba Gold for Improving the Cognition of Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityRan2021 to 2022Enrolled60ConditionsMild Cognitive ImpairmentArmsDual-Task Zumba Gold
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

142 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  4. Combinations of physical and cognitive training for subcortical neurodegenerative diseases with physical, cognitive and behavioral symptoms: a systematic review.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
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82 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Freja GheysenDepartment of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0001-8138-4381
Louise PoppeDepartment of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Ann DeSmetDepartment of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Stephan SwinnenMovement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Greet CardonDepartment of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. greet.cardon@ugent.be.
Ilse De BourdeaudhuijDepartment of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Sebastien ChastinDepartment of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Wim FiasDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

Funding

Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek 12H6717NFonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (BE) 11Z4718N
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAging-related cognitive decline and cognitive impairment greatly impacts older adults' daily life. The worldwide ageing of the population and associated wave of dementia urgently calls for prevention strategies to reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Physical activity (PA) is known to improve cognitive function at older age through processes of neuroplasticity. Yet, emerging studies suggest that larger cognitive gains may be induced when PA interventions are combined with cognitive activity (CA). This meta-analysis evaluates these potential synergistic effects by comparing cognitive effects following combined PA + CA interventions to PA interventions (PA only), CA interventions (CA only) and control groups.

methodsPubmed, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Sportdiscus were searched for English peer-reviewed papers until April 2018. Data were extracted on cognition and factors potentially influencing the cognitive effects: mode of PA + CA combination (sequential or simultaneous), session frequency and duration, intervention length and study quality. Differences between older adults with and without mild cognitive impairments were also explored.

resultsForty-one studies were included. Relative to the control group, combined PA + CA intervention showed significantly larger gains in cognition (g = 0.316; 95% CI 0.188-0.443; p < .001). Studies that compared combined PA + CA with PA only, showed small but significantly greater cognitive improvement in favor of combined interventions (g = 0.160; 95% CI 0.041-0.279; p = .008). No significant difference was found between combined PA + CA and CA only interventions. Furthermore, cognitive effects tended to be more pronounced for studies using simultaneous designs (g = 0.385; 95%CI 0.214-0.555; p < .001) versus sequential designs (g = 0.114; 95%CI -0.102- 0.331, p = .301). Effects were not moderated by session frequency, session duration, intervention length or study quality. Also, no differences in effects were found between older adults with and without mild cognitive impairments.

conclusionFindings of the current meta-analysis suggest that PA programs for older adults could integrate challenging cognitive exercises to improve cognitive health. Combined PA + CA programs should be promoted as a modality for preventing as well as treating cognitive decline in older adults. Sufficient cognitive challenge seems more important to obtain cognitive effects than high doses of intervention sessions.

Indexed as

CognitionCognition DisordersExerciseExercise TherapyLearningAgedCombined Modality TherapyFemaleHumansMaleCognitionCognitive activityCognitive impairmentCombined interventionMeta-analysisOlder adultsPhysical activity

Identifiers

PMID29973193
PMCPMC6032764

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.