Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35301183›Full record

SynthesisBritish journal of sports medicine2022

Physical activity as a protective factor for dementia and Alzheimer's disease: systematic review, meta-analysis and quality assessment of cohort and case-control studies.

Paula Iso-Markku, Urho M Kujala, Keegan Knittle, Juho Polet, Eero Vuoksimaa, Katja Waller

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in British journal of sports medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 214 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
214citing papers in PubMed, 17 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

214 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  7. Selected social and lifestyle correlates of brain health markers: the Cross-Cohort Collaboration Consortium.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
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  10. Perimenopausal Physical Activity and Dementia Risk: A Systematic Review.International journal of sports medicine · 2024
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154 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

6 authors.

Paula Iso-MarkkuInstitute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland paula.iso-markku@helsinki.fi.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6683-919X
Urho M KujalaFaculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9262-1992
Keegan KnittleFaculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2108-7112
Juho PoletFaculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-127X
Eero VuoksimaaInstitute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6534-3667
Katja WallerFaculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-249X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePhysical activity (PA) is associated with a decreased incidence of dementia, but much of the evidence comes from short follow-ups prone to reverse causation. This meta-analysis investigates the effect of study length on the association.

designA systematic review and meta-analysis. Pooled effect sizes, dose-response analysis and funnel plots were used to synthesise the results. DATA SOURCES: CINAHL (last search 19 October 2021), PsycInfo, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science (21 October 2021) and SPORTDiscus (26 October 2021). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies of adults with a prospective follow-up of at least 1 year, a valid cognitive measure or cohort in mid-life at baseline and an estimate of the association between baseline PA and follow-up all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia were included (n=58).

resultsPA was associated with a decreased risk of all-cause dementia (pooled relative risk 0.80, 95% CI 0.77 to 0.84, n=257 983), Alzheimer's disease (0.86, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.93, n=128 261) and vascular dementia (0.79, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.95, n=33 870), even in longer follow-ups (≥20 years) for all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Neither baseline age, follow-up length nor study quality significantly moderated the associations. Dose-response meta-analyses revealed significant linear, spline and quadratic trends within estimates for all-cause dementia incidence, but only a significant spline trend for Alzheimer's disease. Funnel plots showed possible publication bias for all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

conclusionPA was associated with lower incidence of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease, even in longer follow-ups, supporting PA as a modifiable protective lifestyle factor, even after reducing the effects of reverse causation.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseDementia, VascularDisease ProgressionExerciseHumansProspective StudiesProtective Factorscohort studiesneurologyphysical activitypublic health

Identifiers

PMID35301183
PMCPMC9163715

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.