SynthesisJMIR public health and surveillance2024
Effects of Physical Exercise on Telomere Length in Healthy Adults: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression.
Synthesis in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The relationship between physical activity and telomere length in women: A systematic review.Mechanisms of ageing and development · 2025Pooled it
- Critical review of the evidence for Vojta Therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- A 3 month nutrition and exercise program improved hallux strength among senior daycare center users in Korea: a cluster randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- Reframing Telomere Biology in Exercise Science: From Descriptive Metrics to Redox-Metabolic Mechanisms for Precision Healthy Aging (2000-2025).Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Chronic inflammation mediates the relationship between physical activity and telomere length.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Comparative analysis of telomere length in peripheral blood of breast cancer BRCA1 mutation carriers and non-carriers.Discover oncology · 2026Article
- Exercise attenuates the hallmarks of aging: Novel perspectives.Journal of sport and health science · 2025Review
- The Relevance of Chronological and Biological Aging in the Progression of Multiple Sclerosis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Exercise Interventions in Breast Cancer: Molecular Mechanisms, Physical Benefits, and Practical Recommendations.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Is physical fitness associated with leucocyte telomere length in youth with type 1 diabetes?Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Sport and longevity: an observational study of international athletes.GeroScience · 2025Observational
- Leukocyte telomere attrition in cognitive decline: associations with APOE genotype and cardiovascular risk factors.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- Effects of 8 weeks of moderate physical training on body composition, lipid profile, inflammatory markers, and physical activity in middle aged females.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Telomere length and cognitive changes in 7,877 older UK adults of European ancestry.Frontiers in aging · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysical exercise is one of the main nonpharmacological treatments for most pathologies. In addition, physical exercise is beneficial in the prevention of various diseases. The impact of physical exercise has been widely studied; however, existing meta-analyses have included diverse and heterogeneous samples. Therefore, to our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of different physical exercise modalities on telomere length in healthy populations.
objectiveIn this review, we aimed to determine the effect of physical exercise on telomere length in a healthy population through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
methodsA systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression of the published literature on the impact of physical exercise on telomere length in a healthy population was performed. PubMed, Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Embase databases were searched for eligible studies. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Risk Of Bias In Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions and the risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials. Finally, the certainty of our findings (closeness of the estimated effect to the true effect) was evaluated using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE).
resultsWe included 9 trials that met the inclusion criteria with fair methodological quality. Random-effects model analysis was used to quantify the difference in telomere length between the exercise and sham groups. Meta-analysis showed that exercise did not significantly increase telomere length compared with the control intervention (mean difference=0.0058, 95% CI -0.05 to 0.06; P=.83). Subgroup analysis suggested that high-intensity interventional exercise significantly increased telomere length compared with the control intervention in healthy individuals (mean difference=0.15, 95% CI 0.03-0.26; P=.01). Furthermore, 56% of the studies had a high risk of bias. Certainty was graded from low to very low for most of the outcomes.
conclusionsThe findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that high-intensity interval training seems to have a positive effect on telomere length compared with other types of exercise such as resistance training or aerobic exercise in a healthy population.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42022364518; http://tinyurl.com/4fwb85ff.
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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.