Effects of Physical Activity on Health Among Informal Caregivers of People With Cognitive Decline: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Sangwoo Ahn, Sandra J Cobb, Rochelle Butler and 7 others
PMID 40439199WHAT IT FOUND
Physical activity for caregivers of people with cognitive decline did not improve stress, depression, caregiver burden, quality of life, walking endurance, leg strength, moving balance, or anxiety.
It improved standing balance and psychological well-being.
Key findings
01Physical activity did not improve subjective caregiver burden.
02Physical activity improved static balance.
03Physical activity improved psychological well-being.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The review included only randomised trials, but the number of studies was small and the interventions varied in type, dose, supervision, and support. Many studies did not report blinding, adherence, fidelity, or how exercise intensity was measured. Heterogeneity was high for several outcomes, so pooled results may not apply to every caregiver. The search was limited to English-language publications. Most caregivers with race data were White, so the findings may not represent racially or ethnically diverse caregivers. The authors did not assess certainty of evidence because of the limited number of studies.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not tell caregivers that exercise will reduce their stress, depression, caregiver burden, or anxiety. The pooled studies found no improvement in those outcomes, and some positive findings came from single studies or subgroup analyses.