A systematic review of the impact of physical activity on elderly mental health

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic assessment of the available data about the benefits of physical activity and the appropriate forms of exercise for older adults’ mental health.
Methods: LILACS, PubMed, SciELO, CINAHL, Scopus, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and ScienceDirect were all searched. Based on PRISMA, the reviewing guideline was selected. The Quality Assessment Tool (QAT) for Quantitative Studies was used to evaluate the methodological quality of each included study. We only included studies with moderate to strong quality.
Results: Fourteen studies were eligible for inclusion (six randomized controlled trials and eight pretest-posttest stud- ies). A variety of exercises, including aquatic, aerobic, yoga, and muscle-strengthening ones, have been shown to im- prove elderly people’s physical and mental health. According to QAT, five studies with Cohen’s Kappa values of at least 0.80 and 11 high-quality studies with p<0.05 had a significant impact on the mental health of the elderly.
Conclusion: This comprehensive study demonstrated how an exercise program benefits elderly people who are both usually healthy and have suffered a variety of symptoms.
Keywords: Elderly; mental health; physical activity; physical exercise; systematic review.