AUTHOR=Tang Ju , Chen Liang-Liang , Zhang Hongtao , Wei Peifeng , Miao Feng 

TITLE=Effects of exercise therapy on anxiety and depression in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1330521

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2024.1330521

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Objective</title><p>With increasing rates of anxiety and depression during COVID-19, exercise treatment has drawn attention for its effects on COVID-19 patients with anxiety and depression. This study set out to assess the impact of exercise therapy on COVID-19 patients’ anxiety and depression.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were used to search articles about exercise therapy as a means of treating anxiety and depression in COVID-19 patients from inception to April 30, 2023. The risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration bias risk tool. Data were pooled with the random effects model. RevMan version 5.4 was used for the statistical analyses. This work was registered in the PROSPERO database (registration number: CRD42023406439).</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Selection criteria</title><p>Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of COVID-19 patients with anxiety and depression were included to assess the impact of physical exercise on COVID-19 patients with anxiety and depression.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Results</title><p>6 studies including a total of 461 COVID-19 patients were analyzed in this meta-analysis. Overall, the meta-analysis showed that compared with the control group, exercise could significantly improve anxiety (SMD = −0.76; 95%CI: −0.96, −0.55; <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.00001), depression level (SMD = −0.39; 95%CI: −0.70, −0.09; <italic>p</italic> = 0.01), the PHQ-9 score (MD = −1.82; 95%CI: −2.93, −0.71; <italic>p</italic> = 0.001) and the sleep quality (SMD = −0.73; 95%CI: −1.32, −0.14; <italic>p</italic> = 0.01) in COVID-19 patients.</p></sec><sec id="sec5"><title>Conclusion</title><p>The research provided evidence that exercise therapy is able to help COVID-19 patients experience less anxiety and depression and have better-quality sleep.</p></sec><sec id="sec501"><title>Systematic review registration</title><p>CRD42023406439.</p></sec>