Effects of high-intensity interval training on physical morphology, cardiopulmonary function, and metabolic indicators in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Men, Jie; Zhao, Chengrui; Xiang, Chenmin; Zhu, Guoyu; Yu, Zhengyang; Wang, Pengbo; Wu, Simin; Zhang, Yuxi; Li, Yishan; Wang, Liuliu; Gong, Xueyan; Yang, Xiang; Zou, Shuangling; Ma, Jia; Cui, Chenglong; Li, Hao; Ma, Xuedi; Wu, Wenjie; Wang, Yaoming

doi:10.3389/fendo.2025.1526991

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Cardiovascular Endocrinology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1526991

Effects of high-intensity interval training on physical morphology, cardiopulmonary function, and metabolic indicators in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted

Jie Men ^1*

Chengrui Zhao ¹

Chenmin Xiang ¹

Guoyu Zhu ¹

Zhengyang Yu ¹

Pengbo Wang ¹

Simin Wu ¹

Yuxi Zhang ¹

Yishan Li ¹

Liuliu Wang ¹

Xueyan Gong ²

Xiang Yang ¹

Shuangling Zou ¹ Jia Ma

Jia Ma ¹

Chenglong Cui ¹ Hao Li

Hao Li ¹

Xuedi Ma ¹

Wenjie Wu ¹

Yaoming Wang ¹

¹ Fenyang College of Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China
² Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical College, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background Despite the growing attention towards the efficacy of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on elderly health, a consensus regarding the pleiotropic effects of HIIT in this population is yet to be reached. Previous studies have predominantly focused on specific outcomes or particular groups, lacking comprehensive analysis.Objective We aimed to conduct a systematic evaluation of the impact of HIIT on body composition, cardiopulmonary function, and metabolic parameters in older adults.The databases searched included PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, WanFang, and other relevant sources from the inception of the database until July 2023.Randomized controlled trials (RCTS) on the effects of HIIT on body shape, cardiopulmonary function and metabolic parameters in the elderly were searched.Result A total of 87 RCTS meeting the criteria were included, with a total of 4213 elderly people.Meta-analysis results showed that HIIT significantly improved body fat percentage (BF%)

Keywords: High-intensity interval training, older adults, Physical morphology, Cardiopulmonary function, metabolic indicators 63%, P=0.005], maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) [MD:2.46ml min-1kg-1, P < 0.00001]

Received: 20 Nov 2024; Accepted: 19 Feb 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Men, Zhao, Xiang, Zhu, Yu, Wang, Wu, Zhang, Li, Wang, Gong, Yang, Zou, Ma, Cui, Li, Ma, Wu and Wang. 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: Jie Men, Fenyang College of Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China

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