Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: The literature available establishes association between physical activity and risk of Alzheimer's disease.The aim of this review was to systematically evaluate the evidence on the relationship between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease.Medline via PubMed was searched for original research articles assessing association between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease.The review was limited to prospective observational and intervention studies.Criteria for exclusion was studies conducted on demented patients, cross-sectional study design and reports.The quality of studies was assessed in 5 domains of bias.18 longitudinal observational studies were included in this systematic review.Of the 18 selected studies, 14 found a significant inverse association between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease, 9 of these 14 studies formed a moderate quality of evidence whereas 5 presented low quality evidence.Of the total 18 studies, 4 studies found non-significant to no association.Out of these 4 studies, 2 formed moderate quality evidence and 2 formed low quality evidence.There appears to be an inverse significant association between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease supported by a moderate quality of evidence.The results of this review suggest that physical activity is inversely associated with risk of Alzheimer's disease based on moderate quality of evidence.The optimal dose of physical activity to induce protection presently remains unclear and needs further investigation.Future studies should employ better study designs, include younger participants with objective physical activity measurement and have longer follow-up in order to improve the quality of the research.
Author: Ruth Stephen
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3097007220