Exercise and Quality of Life in Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

This study appraises evidence for the effectiveness of exercise in improving quality of life (QoL) in persons with dementia (PwDs). The Cochrane, Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases were searched for peer-reviewed clinical trials of exercise in PwD. Additional searches of the PubMed for ahead-of-print citations and reference lists of articles were undertaken. Studies not including QoL as an outcome were excluded. Thirteen studies comprising 903 PwDs were identified. Random effects meta-analyses indicate that aerobic exercises may produce larger effect on QoL in PwD. However, overall postintervention results suggest exercise interventions led to small and nonsignificant improvement in QoL. Due to studies showing inconsistent results, the evidence for beneficial effects of exercise on QoL in PwD is inconclusive at this time. Future trials should tailor specific types of exercise programs for well-defined cohorts of PwDs.