Elderly people with dementia benefit from exercise in a range of ways, researchers say today.
According to the review in The Cochrane Library today (4 December), exercise helps improve brain functioning and ability to carry out everyday activities.
The researchers, led by Dr Dorothy Forbes of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, reviewed figures from eight trials of 329 older people with dementia. Overall, the findings indicated that exercise brings cognitive improvements and raises the ability to carry out daily activities such as walking short distances or getting up from a chair.
But no clear improvement was seen on depression scores among those who exercised, and no conclusions could be reached on the effects on quality of life. These findings update a previous Cochrane review from 2008, although at that point only four trials on the subject had been carried out.
More evidence is still needed in order to understand how exercise can cut the impact of dementia on family caregivers and health systems, say the researchers.
Dr Forbes said: "In our previous review, we were unable to draw any conclusions about the effectiveness of exercise in older people with dementia, due to a shortage of appropriate trials. Following this new review, we are now able to conclude that there is promising evidence for exercise programs improving cognition and the ability to carry out daily activities. But we also need to understand what level and intensity of exercise is most beneficial."
However, there were "substantial differences" in the results of individual trials, so she added: "We do still need to be cautious about how we interpret these findings."
Forbes, D. et al. Exercise programs for people with dementia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 4 December 2013 doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006489.pub3 [abstract]
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