SynthesisMedicine2019
Impact of physical exercise on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders: Evidence through a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 7 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
36 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of exercise on anxiety and psychiatric comorbidities in children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Six Types of Exercise Interventions on Inhibitory Control, Executive Function, and Gross Motor Skills in Children With ADHD: A Network Meta-Analysis of 26 Randomized Controlled Trials.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of the physical exercise intervention on negative emotions in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of physical activity on attention in school-age children with ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Pooled it
- The Efficacy of Physical Activity for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of attention disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analysis and systematic review of physical activity on neurodevelopment disorders, depression, and obesity among children and adolescents.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-Analysis Study on Treatment of Children's Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity.Journal of healthcare engineering · 2021Pooled it
- The effects of physical activity on mental health in adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomized controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- A Digital Cognitive-Physical Intervention for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Trial
- A Randomized Trial of a Swimming-Based Alternative Treatment for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Effects of a psychosocial intervention at one-year follow-up in a PREDIMED-plus sample with obesity and metabolic syndrome.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: the Mediating Effects of Mental Health.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Operationalizing the ICF Core Sets for Autism and ADHD: A Multiple-Methods Feasibility Study.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Article
- ADHD remote technology and ADHD transition: predicting and preventing negative outcomes (ART-transition) - an adolescent prospective cohort study protocol.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Medication vs. Movement in ADHD: Interaction Between Medication and Physical Activity on Neurocognitive Functioning.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Review
- Individual Differences in the Neurocognitive Effect of Movement During Executive Functioning in Children with ADHD: Impact of Subtype, Severity, and Gender.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Mental health in children with and without ADHD: the role of physical activity and parental nativity.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- The SASOP/PsychMg child and adolescent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder guidelines.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which is characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, is considered as the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood. Physical exercise has shown to have several benefits in the improvement of children with ADHD. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to systematically show, with evidence, the impact of physical exercise on children with ADHD.
methodsWeb of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google Scholar, Cochrane Central and http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov were the searched sources for studies which were based on the impact of physical exercise on children with ADHD. Relevant endpoints were assessed. This evidence based meta-analysis was carried out by the most relevant RevMan 5.3 software. Due to the involvement of continuous data (mean and standard deviation), weight mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to represent the final analysis. A significant level of P ≤ .05 was set and a fixed statistical effect model was used throughout the analysis.
resultsFourteen studies with a total number of 574 participants with ADHD were included in this evidenced based meta-analysis. Two hundred and seventy six (276) participants were assigned to the physical activity group whereas 298 participants were assigned to the control group. Results of this analysis showed that anxiety and depression were significantly improved with physical activity in these children with ADHD (WMD: -1.84; 95% CI: [-2.65 - (-1.03)], P = .00001). Hyperactive/impulsive symptoms (WMD: -0.01; 95% CI: [-0.32 - 0.29], P = .93) and inattention symptoms (WMD: -0.22; 95% CI: [-0.51 - 0.08], P = .15) were also improved with physical exercise but the results were not statistically significant. This evidence based analysis showed thought problems (WMD: -3.49; 95% CI: [-5.51 - (-1.47)], P = .0007), social problems (WMD: -5.08; 95% CI: [-7.34 - (-2.82)], P = .0001), and aggressive behaviors (WMD: -3.90; 95% CI: [-7.10 - (-0.70)], P = .02) to have significantly been improved in participants with ADHD who were assigned to physical activity group.
conclusionsThis current meta-analysis showed with evidence, that physical exercise has a major contribution owing to significant improvement in anxiety and depression, aggressive behaviors, thought and social problems among children suffering from ADHD. Therefore, physical exercise should be incorporated in the daily life of children with ADHD. Further future research should be able to confirm this hypothesis.
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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.