Effects of chronic physical exercise on executive functions and episodic memory in clinical and healthy older adult populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

This article describes the protocol for a systematic review and multilevel meta-analytic study aiming at evaluating the effectiveness of different types of chronic exercise in improving and/or maintaining EFs and long-term episodic memory in older adults.Methods and analysisThe study protocol was written in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Several databases will be searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in older adults aged  ≥ 60 years providing any kind of planned, structured, and repetitive exercise interventions, and EFs and/or episodic memory measures as outcomes, published in English in peer-reviewed journals and doctoral dissertations will be included. Two independent reviewers will screen the selected art icles, while a third reviewer will resolve possible conflicts. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool will be used to assess the quality of the studies. Finally, data will be extracted from the selected articles, and the formal method of combining individual data from the selected studies will be applied us ing a random effect multilevel meta-analysis. The data analysis will be conducted with the metafor package in R.Discussion and conclusionThis review will synthesize the existing evidence and pinpoint gaps existing in the literature on the effects of exercise on EFs and episodic memory in healthy and unhealthy older adults. Findings from this meta-analysis will help to design ...
Source: Systematic Reviews - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research