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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1551877
This article is part of the Research Topic Progress in the Assessment and Intervention of Neurocognitive Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases View all 16 articles
Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Multi-component Exercise on Cognitive Function in Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment
Provisionally accepted
Hualei Liu 1
Zhiyuan Sun 2
Haiqing Zeng 1 Jincheng Han 1 Mengqi Hu 1 Dewei Mao 3*
Xuewen Tian 1*
Ran Li 1*- 1 Shandong Sport University, Jinan, China
- 2 Qufu Normal University, Qufu, Shandong Province, China
- 3 The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Exercise has been widely recognized as an effective regimen in mitigating cognitive decline. However, the effect of multi-component exercise (i.e. combination of two or more types of exercise) on cognitive function and its subdomains in older adults remains unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the effects of multi-component exercise on cognitive functions in elderly individuals with cognitive impairment and identify optimal prevention and treatment strategies. A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and Embase to identify relevant randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of multi-component exercise on cognitive function in the elderly. Thirteen studies with 1776 participants were included in the analysis using Revman 5.4 software. The results showed that multi-component exercise had a significant effect on mitigating cognitive function decline in the elderly, with a pooled effect size of SMD=0.31 (95% CI: 0.08, 0.55; P=0.009). The results of subgroup analysis showed that interventions with ≥3 days/week, 12-24 weeks duration, and ≤40 minutes/session were significantly superior to other frequencies, durations, and lengths, with all P-values <0.05. Additionally, multi-component exercise had the most pronounced effects on executive function, visual memory, and verbal memory in patients with mild cognitive impairment(MCI). In conclusion, multi-component exercise can delay the decline in cognitive function in the elderly, and the intervention effects are modulated by various variables. Optimal intervention effects were observed with an exercise frequency of three or more times per week, a duration of 12 to 24 weeks, and a time per session of 40 minutes or less, particularly for improving executive function, visual memory, and verbal memory in patients with MCI.
Keywords: Multi-component exercise, Elderly, Cognitive Function, Meta - analysis, Exercise
Received: 26 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Sun, Zeng, Han, Hu, Mao, Tian and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Dewei Mao, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Xuewen Tian, Shandong Sport University, Jinan, China
Ran Li, Shandong Sport University, Jinan, China
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