The effect of exercise on anxiety in the elderly worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Physical activity and exercise are among the most important, simplest, and cheapest approaches to anxiety treatment, especially for the elderly. Their positive effects on improvement of mental disorders in the elderly have attracted a considerable level of attention. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of sport on reducing anxiety in the elderly using meta-analysis. METHODS: . Due to presence of heterogeneity, the random effects model was used to estimate the standardized mean difference of sport test scores obtained from the measurement of anxiety reduction among the elderly, between the intervention group before and after the test. RESULTS: In this meta-analysis and systematic review, 19 papers finally met the inclusion criteria. The overall sample size of all collected studies for the meta-analysis was 841 s. Mean anxiety score before and after intervention were 38.7 ± 5.6 33.7 ± 3.4 respectively, denoting a decrease in anxiety score after intervention. CONCLUSION: Results of this study indicates that Sport significantly reduces Anxiety in the Elderly. Therefore, a regular exercise program can be considered as a part of the elderly care program.