Efficacy of Physical Activity Promoting Interventions in Physical Therapy and Exercise Therapy for Persons with Noncommunicable Diseases: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Jung A, Geidl W, Matting L, Hoessel LM, Siemens W, Sudeck G, Pfeifer K (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Physical Therapy American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)

DOI: 10.1093/ptj/pzae053

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this study was to synthesize the evidence from systematic reviews on the efficacy of physical therapy and exercise therapy including interventional elements explicitly aiming at physical activity promotion (PAP) in patients with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).


Methods

PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from inception to February 28, 2023. Two independent reviewers screened the literature to identify systematic reviews that evaluated the effect of physical therapy and exercise therapy including PAP interventions. Patient-reported and device-based measures of physical activity outcomes were included. Qualitative and quantitative data from systematic reviews were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. Assessment of the methodological quality of included systematic reviews was performed using the AMSTAR 2 (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews). We assessed primary study overlap by calculating the corrected covered area and conducted the evidence synthesis in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.


Results

Fourteen systematic reviews were included in the present overview, including patients with a variety of NCDs. Most included systematic reviews had critically low (n = 5) to low (n = 7) methodological quality. Most meta-analysis (67%; 8/12) provided evidence supporting the short- and long-term efficacy of PAP interventions but not all pooled estimates were clinically relevant. Only 3 of the systematic reviews with meta-analysis included an assessment of the certainty of evidence. The evidence from systematic reviews without meta-analysis was inconclusive.


Conclusions

The results of the present overview suggest that PAP interventions in physical therapy or exercise therapy may be effective to improve physical activity for patients with NCDs in the short term and long term. The results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited certainty of evidence and critically low to low methodological quality of included systematic reviews. Both high quality primary studies and systematic reviews are required to confirm these results.


Impact

There is limited evidence that PAP interventions in physical therapy and exercise therapy may be effective to improve physical activity for patients with NCDs.

Authors with CRIS profile

Andres Jung Lehrstuhl für Sportwissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Bewegung und Gesundheit Wolfgang Geidl Lehrstuhl für Sportwissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Bewegung und Gesundheit Klaus Pfeifer Lehrstuhl für Sportwissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Bewegung und Gesundheit

Involved external institutions

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen DE Germany (DE) Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Jung, A., Geidl, W., Matting, L., Hoessel, L.-M., Siemens, W., Sudeck, G., & Pfeifer, K. (2024). Efficacy of Physical Activity Promoting Interventions in Physical Therapy and Exercise Therapy for Persons with Noncommunicable Diseases: An Overview of Systematic Reviews. Physical Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzae053

MLA:

Jung, Andres, et al. "Efficacy of Physical Activity Promoting Interventions in Physical Therapy and Exercise Therapy for Persons with Noncommunicable Diseases: An Overview of Systematic Reviews." Physical Therapy (2024).

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