The Effect of Physical Activity Program for Elderly with Dementia on Cognitive Function: Meta-Analysis of Studies in Korea

PURPOSE: Many studies have reported the improvement of cognition through physical activity among subject with dementia. This study aimed to whether the current studies supports that physical activity intervention is efficacious on cognitive performance in subject with dementia. METHODS: Two independent reviewers searched National assembly library, RISS, KISS (2005-2015) using the concepts of dementia, exercise, and physical activity. We included randomized controlled trials that examined the efficacy of physical activity in subject with dementia. A meta-analysis was performed to estimate the effect sizes cognition with CMA (Comprehensive Meta-Analysis, version 2.2.064) soft-ware program. Nine randomized controlled trials were included, providing data from 133 individuals and excluding those failing to criteria of this study. RESULTS: The meta-analysis showed that physical activity intervention had a rather small effect sizes of 0.36 (95% confidence interval 0.14-0.59) on cognition performance in subject with dementia. Outcome measurement were MMSE-K (Mini-mental state examination Korean version) and LOCTA (Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment). We found heterogeneous among studies and there was difference between the studies (Q