Physical activity and risk of Parkinson's disease: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Although recent meta-analyses have shown that the association between physical activity (PA) and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD) is influenced by gender differences, a growing number of studies are revealing the general applicability of this association across genders. This study aimed to reassess the association and dose-response relationship between PA and PD risk in populations.

A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases was conducted in this study from inception to February 1, 2024, without language restrictions. Stratified analyses were conducted to explore the association between PA and PD risk, combining multivariate-adjusted effect estimates via random-effects models, and to validate the dose-response relationship between the two.

This study included 21 observational studies, comprising 13 cohort studies and 8 case-control studies. The pooled analysis revealed that PA significantly reduced the risk of developing PD [relative risk (RR) = 0.77, 95% CI 0.70-0.85]. In addition, the dose-response analysis revealed both linear and nonlinear associations, with linear results indicating a 9% reduction in PD risk for every 10 MET-h/wk increase in PA. The study also demonstrated that the protective effect of PA against PD was significant for both sexes. Moreover, no statistically significant effects of PA on preventing PD were observed in individuals with a BMI > 26 (RR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.12-1.02) or in Asian populations (RR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.60-1.01); however, the trends suggest potential protective effects, warranting further investigation. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.

This meta-analysis produced substantial evidence to reaffirm the protective effect of high PA on PD across various population groups and the inverse dose-response relationship with PD risk, and to validate the protective effect of PA among different demographic groups.