Study archive · page 35

In adults diagnosed with depression or anxiety, exercise produced a large improvement in depressive symptoms and a moderate improvement in anxiety symptoms across randomised trials. Aerobic, resistance and mixed programmes were all beneficial.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 26 RCTs (2,681 participants) in adults with diagnosed depression or anxiety; the anxiety analysis rested on only 11 studies, and the review could not crown a single best exercise mode.Meta-analysis · Int J Ment Health Nurs

An umbrella review pooling 133 systematic reviews and 2,724 randomised trials found exercise improves general cognition, memory and executive function across all populations and ages. Effects were generally larger for low- and moderate-intensity activity.

⚠What it shows: Umbrella review of 258,279 participants; effects were modest in size (SMD 0.24-0.42), overlap between the included reviews is inherent to the design, and review quality varied, though results held after excluding low-quality reviews.Meta-analysis · Br J Sports Med

Across 41 randomised trials in 2,264 adults, exercise produced large reductions in depressive symptoms compared with non-active controls, with a number needed to treat of 2. The effect remained moderate when analysis was restricted to the 12 low risk-of-bias trials.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 41 RCTs (2,264 participants post-intervention); many trials were small with high heterogeneity in methods, and the effect shrank to moderate in the 12 low risk-of-bias studies.Meta-analysis · Br J Sports Med

Exercise programmes produced a small but significant improvement in working memory in adults with mild-to-moderate depression. Effects on inhibition and cognitive flexibility, two other core executive functions, were not significant.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of only 7 controlled studies (202 men, 457 women, aged 21-51, mild-to-moderate depression); high heterogeneity across trials; the authors say the shortage of high-quality studies precludes firm conclusions.Meta-analysis · Int J Environ Res Public Health

Pooling 54 randomised trials in healthy children, adults and older adults, exercise improved overall cognition and every domain measured, with aerobic work showing the greatest benefit for global cognition, resistance training for executive function and mind-body exercise for memory. Older adults gained the most.

⚠What it shows: Systematic review and meta-analysis of 54 RCTs in healthy people; the type-by-domain comparisons come from moderation analyses across studies rather than head-to-head trials, and the authors say evidence on attention and information processing is still too thin to judge.Meta-analysis · Ageing Res Rev

In a 12-week randomised trial of virtual reality exercise, participants viewing professionally produced 360° waterscapes improved mental quality of life, fat-free mass and BMI, and reported more restorativeness and less VR sickness than those viewing self-recorded landscapes.

⚠What it shows: Single RCT with 40 vs 32 participants over 12 weeks; the groups differed in video production quality as well as scenery type, and outcomes relied partly on self-report questionnaires.Study · J Formos Med Assoc

In a secondary analysis of 1,726 adults treated for alcohol use disorder, those engaging in more alcohol-free activities 6 months after treatment drank heavily less often at 12 months, and the link was stronger among people living in more impoverished communities. It is an observational association within a trial, not proof that adding activities causes less drinking.

⚠What it shows: Secondary observational analysis of 1,726 participants from a randomised alcohol use disorder trial at 10 US research units; associations come from Bayesian multilevel models over 12 months and cannot establish cause, and the sample is people who completed formal alcohol treatment.RCT · J Exp Anal Behav

An 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programme improved quality of life, life satisfaction, mental well-being and sleep quality in a randomised controlled trial of 84 menopausal women, while a no-intervention control group showed no significant change.

⚠What it shows: One single-site RCT in Türkiye, n=84, compared against a no-intervention control rather than a placebo or attention control; outcomes were self-reported and effect sizes were not stated in the abstract.RCT · J Nurs Scholarsh

Mind-body exercise such as yoga, tai chi, Pilates and qigong improved bone mineral density, sleep quality, anxiety, depression and fatigue in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women across 11 randomised trials.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 11 RCTs (1,005 women); heterogeneity was high for the sleep, anxiety and depression outcomes; effects are standardised differences, so the real-world size of the benefit is unclear.Meta-analysis · Menopause

Pooling 20 studies in musculoskeletal rehabilitation, low-load training with blood flow restriction produced a moderate strength gain (Hedges' g=0.523) and was more effective and more tolerable than low-load training alone, but heavy-load training still produced the larger effect (g=0.674).

⚠What it shows: Systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 studies, mostly small: ACL reconstruction (n=3), knee osteoarthritis (n=3), older adults at risk of sarcopenia (n=13) and one inclusion body myositis study, not trained athletes. The authors note cuff prescription is not yet individualised.Meta-analysis · Br J Sports Med

A Cochrane review of 121 randomised trials and 6700 older adults found progressive resistance training produced a large improvement in muscle strength and smaller but real gains in physical ability, gait speed and getting out of a chair. Pain fell in participants with osteoarthritis, though not in other trials of bodily pain.

⚠What it shows: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of 121 RCTs, 6700 participants; the strength effect was large (SMD 0.84) but the gain in physical ability was small (SMD 0.14), and adverse events were poorly recorded, with joint pain and muscle soreness commonly reported where they were tracked.Meta-analysis · Cochrane Database Syst Rev

Across 51 randomised trials, mind-body, resistance, flexibility and coordination exercise were all associated with reduced functional disability from nonspecific neck pain. An exploratory analysis suggested benefits from around 100 MET-min per session, with larger effects around 300-400 MET-min.

⚠What it shows: Network meta-analysis of 51 RCTs (4,140 participants); interventions were heterogeneous and the dose-response analysis is exploratory, study-level data only.Meta-analysis · PeerJ

A meta-analysis of 63 studies found plyometric training significantly improved jumping (SMD 0.648), sprinting (SMD -0.496) and agility (SMD -0.659) in adolescents aged 10-19, with benefits more consistent when programmes ran at least 10 weeks.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 63 trials in healthy adolescents aged 10-19; between-study heterogeneity, variable testing protocols, and small sex- and sport-specific subgroups limit generalisability.Meta-analysis · PeerJ

A network meta-analysis of 92 trials in adults aged 55-70 with overweight or obesity found that combining calorie restriction with resistance or mixed exercise and high protein intake was the most effective strategy for nearly all body-composition outcomes. Energy restriction alone was less effective and tended to decrease muscle mass.

⚠What it shows: Network meta-analysis of RCTs: 92 studies included, 66 of them (4,957 participants) usable for pooling; interventions lasted only 8 weeks to 6 months, and network comparisons are partly indirect.Meta-analysis · Adv Nutr

Among 354,957 UK Biobank adults followed for a median of 13 years, those drinking 5 or more cups of coffee a day had lower rates of cirrhosis (hazard ratio 0.68), hepatocellular carcinoma (0.53) and liver-related mortality (0.58), with similar patterns for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. Imaging showed lower liver fat, iron and fibroinflammation with higher intake.

⚠What it shows: Large observational cohort, not a trial: coffee intake was self-reported by questionnaire in UK Biobank volunteers who are healthier than the general population. Models adjusted for demographic, behavioural, metabolic and genetic factors, but residual confounding and reverse causation cannot be excluded, so causation is unproven.Study · Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol

A meta-analysis of whole-food dietary interventions in adults aged 50 and over found they raised daily protein intake by 12.2 g/day compared with controls, with bigger effects when programmes ran longer, used individual counselling and set an absolute protein target.

⚠What it shows: Systematic review of 16 studies (n = 1712, 33% male) with a meta-analysis of 11 controlled trials (n = 1207) in community-dwelling older adults; protein intake was self-reported dietary data, the confidence interval was wide (+5.0 to +19.4 g/day), and muscle or strength outcomes were not the endpoint.Study · Nutr Rev

'Exercise snacks', bouts lasting 5 minutes or less, done at least twice a day, significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness in physically inactive adults across 11 randomised trials. They did not improve blood pressure, body composition or blood lipids.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 11 RCTs with only 414 participants (69.1% women); the fitness result had moderate certainty with high heterogeneity, and the older-adult endurance finding was rated very low certainty.Meta-analysis · Br J Sports Med

Six weeks of home-based Thai-boxing HIIT improved VO2 max, resting blood pressure, resting heart rate, grip strength, trunk endurance and body fat more than a general health-education programme in 58 sedentary young adults. Muscle mass and fat-free mass did not differ between groups.

⚠What it shows: One 6-week RCT, n=58 sedentary young adults in Thailand; short duration, no long-term follow-up, and the comparison group received a different active programme.Study · J Educ Health Promot

Telling people living with HIV their personal 5- and 10-year cardiovascular risk, plus a brief personalised behaviour intervention, significantly improved heart-disease knowledge and reduced some risk behaviours over 6 months. Smoking and drinking rates fell more than in controls but not significantly.

⚠What it shows: Non-randomised multicentre trial (362 matched pairs after propensity-score matching) in people living with HIV in one Chinese province; behaviour changes were modest and several outcomes were not statistically significant.Study · Infect Dis Ther

Exercise-based treatments reduced pain and disability in athletes with low back pain, but no trial reported whether athletes actually returned to sport, and it remains unclear which treatment works best for whom.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 14 RCTs (541 athletes) with performance, attrition and reporting biases; no return-to-sport data for any exercise intervention; insufficient evidence for manual therapy or biomechanical changes alone.Meta-analysis · Br J Sports Med

Delaying morning training from 07:00 to 09:00 gave national-level swimmers 1.0 h more sleep per night on average, but recovery and 100 m and 800 m time-trial performance did not measurably improve over the 8-day camps.

⚠What it shows: One cross-over RCT in 27 adolescent national-level swimmers across two 8-day training camps; the extra sleep produced no significant recovery or performance change in that short window, and results may not generalise to older or recreational athletes.Study · Sports Med Open

In a meta-analysis of 10 randomised trials with 1,154 participants, whey protein supplementation improved muscle mass and gait speed in older adults diagnosed with sarcopenia, and combining it with resistance training significantly increased handgrip strength.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 10 RCTs (1,154 older adults with diagnosed sarcopenia, community and hospital settings mixed); the authors say more studies are needed to validate the results.Meta-analysis · J Nutr Health Aging

Adults over 60 who stay physically active show lower risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, breast and prostate cancer, fractures, recurrent falls, disability, cognitive decline, dementia and depression than inactive peers.

⚠What it shows: Umbrella review of 24 systematic reviews of longitudinal observational studies in adults 60+; these are associations, not proof that activity causes the better outcomes, and the review does not specify how much activity is needed.Systematic review · Scand J Med Sci Sports

In adults with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, intermittent fasting cut body weight by 4.56 kg and lowered HbA1c, fasting glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides versus control diets, but against straightforward calorie restriction it added only modest extra weight loss and no metabolic advantage.

⚠What it shows: Meta-analysis of 14 randomised trials (1,101 adults with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes); fat mass, insulin, LDL, HDL and blood pressure did not improve versus control, and versus calorie restriction there were no differences in glycaemic markers, lipids or blood pressure.Meta-analysis · Diabetes Obes Metab