The Effects of Exercise Interventions on Mental Health in Chinese Older Adults

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this meta-analysis was to comprehensively evaluate the effects of exercise interventions on mental health in Chinese older adults, according to the effects of intervention methods, intervention duration, intervention frequency, intervention time, measurement tools, and subject types. METHODS: We searched CNKI, Wanfang and Technology Journal Database for randomized control trials, 15 original studies were extracted, reporting on 1509 Chinese older adults (Age: 55–79 years old). We used CMA2.0 software. After heterogeneity test, suitable random effect model was selected. RESULTS: Physical exercise had a positive effect on mental health in Chinese older adults, combined effect [SMD = −1.25, 95% CI (−1.66, −0.84), P ≤ 0.001], anxiety combined effect size [SMD = −1.45, 95% CI (−2.08, −0.83), P ≤ 0.001], depression combined effect size [SMD = −1.02, 95% CI (−1.56, −0.48), P ≤ 0.001]. Significant differences in the intervention types, intervention duration, intervention frequency, intervention time, and measurement tools were found. CONCLUSION: Physical exercise had positive intervention effect on the mental health of the Chinese older adults, which was applicable to all older adults. Exercise rehabilitation was the more effective, and the best intervention effect on the older hypertension. Due to the high heterogeneity of this study and the limited number of included literature, more high-quality needed to be included in the subsequent studies.