Effects of Mind–Body Interventions Involving Meditative Movements on Quality of Life, Depressive Symptoms, Fear of Falling and Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

Manuel Weber, Thiemo Schnorr, Mareike Morat, Tobias Morat and Lars Donath
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Manuel Weber: Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology, German Sport University, 50933 Cologne, Germany
Thiemo Schnorr: Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology, German Sport University, 50933 Cologne, Germany
Mareike Morat: Institute of Exercise Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University, 50933 Cologne, Germany
Tobias Morat: Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology, German Sport University, 50933 Cologne, Germany
Lars Donath: Institute of Exercise Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University, 50933 Cologne, Germany

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-22

Abstract: Background : The aim of the present systematic meta-analytical review was to quantify the effects of different mind–body interventions (MBI) involving meditative movements on relevant psychological health outcomes (i.e., quality of life (QoL), depressive symptoms, fear of falling (FoF) and sleep quality) in older adults without mental disorders. Methods : A structured literature search was conducted in five databases (Ovid, PsycINFO, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science). Inclusion criteria were: (i) the study was a (cluster) randomized controlled trial, (ii) the subjects were aged ≥59 years without mental illnesses, (iii) an intervention arm performing MBI compared to a non-exercise control group (e.g., wait-list or usual care), (iv) psychological health outcomes related to QoL, depressive symptoms, FoF or sleep quality were assessed and (v) a PEDro score of ≥5. The interventions of the included studies were sub-grouped into Tai Chi/Qigong (TCQ) and Yoga/Pilates (YP). Statistical analyses were conducted using a random-effects inverse-variance model. Results : Thirty-seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (comprising 3224 participants) were included. Small to moderate-but-significant overall effect sizes favoring experimental groups (Hedges’ g : 0.25 to 0.71) compared to non-exercise control groups were observed in all outcomes (all p values ≤ 0.007), apart from one subdomain of quality of life (i.e., social functioning, p = 0.15). Interestingly, a significant larger effect on QoL and depressive symptoms with increasing training frequency was found for TCQ ( p = 0.03; p = 0.004). Conclusions : MBI involving meditative movements may serve as a promising opportunity to improve psychological health domains such as QoL, depressive symptoms, FoF and sleep quality in older adults. Hence, these forms of exercise may represent potential preventive measures regarding the increase of late-life mental disorders, which need to be further confirmed by future research.

Keywords: Tai Chi; Qigong; Yoga; Pilates; psychological health; psychological symptoms; prevention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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