Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jan 14;10(2):290.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10020290.

Effects of Exercise Interventions on Inflammatory Parameters in Acutely Hospitalized Older Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Robinson Ramírez-Vélez  1   2 , Antonio García-Hermoso  1   3 , Nicolás Martínez-Velilla  1   2 , Fabricio Zambom-Ferraresi  1   2 , Mikel L Sáez de Asteasu  1   2 , Anel E Recarey  1 , Mikel Izquierdo  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Effects of Exercise Interventions on Inflammatory Parameters in Acutely Hospitalized Older Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Robinson Ramírez-Vélez et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to appraise the acute effects of exercise training on inflammatory parameters in hospitalized older adults. We conducted a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Web of Science, Medline and PubMed were searched for studies published until August 2020. The review included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated and compared the effect of exercise versus usual care on inflammatory parameters in acutely hospitalized older adults. Two reviewers independently assessed the studies. The quality of all the included studies was assessed using the DerSimonian-Laird random-effects inverse-variance model. Five studies (275 participants) met the inclusion criteria. The exercise interventions included resistance or multicomponent intervention programs. The results indicate that, compared with usual care, exercise interventions have a positive impact on overall inflammatory parameters, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) (Hedge's g = -0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.33 to -0.04, p = 0.011, I2 = 0%). However, analyses of individual inflammatory parameters revealed a non-significant trend for reductions in CRP (Hedge's g = -0.20, 95% CI -0.47 to 0.07, p = 0.151, I2 = 31.2%) and IGF-I (Hedge's g = -0.34, 95% CI -0.79 to 0.11, p = 0.138, I2 = 0%). On the basis of this review, we conclude that exercise during acute hospitalization offers a mild improvement in the inflammatory profile over usual care in older patients. Nevertheless, due to limited number of RCTs, our findings must be interpreted with caution and confirmed in future studies.

Keywords: aging; elderly; hospitalization; inflammation; physical activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of literature search.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot showing the effect size (Hedges’ g) of physical exercise programs on overall inflammatory profile.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kanach F.A., Pastva A.M., Hall K.S., Pavon J.M., Morey M.C. Effects of structured exercise interventions for older adults hospitalized with acute medical illness: A systematic review. J. Aging Phys. Act. 2018;26:284–303. doi: 10.1123/japa.2016-0372. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ramírez-Vélez R., Sáez De Asteasu M.L., Martínez-Velilla N., Zambon-Ferraresi F., García-Hermoso A., Recarey A.E., Fernández-Irigoyen J., Santamaría E., Palomino-Echeverría S., Izquierdo M. Circulating Cytokines and Lower Body Muscle Performance in Older Adults at Hospital Admission. J Nutr Health Aging. 2020;24:1131–1139. doi: 10.1007/s12603-020-1480-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Drummond M.J., Timmerman K.L., Markofski M.M., Walker D.K., Dickinson J.M., Jamaluddin M., Brasier A.R., Rasmussen B.B., Volpi E. Short-term bed rest increases TLR4 and IL-6 expression in skeletal muscle of older adults. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 2013;305 doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00072.2013. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reijnierse E.M., Verlaan S., Pham V.K., Lim W.K., Meskers C.G.M., Maier A.B. Lower Skeletal Muscle Mass at Admission Independently Predicts Falls and Mortality 3 Months Post-discharge in Hospitalized Older Patients. J. Gerontol. Ser. A. 2018;74:1650–1656. doi: 10.1093/gerona/gly281. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Valenzuela P.L., Joyner M., Lucia A. Early mobilization in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Ann. Phys. Rehabil. Med. 2020 doi: 10.1016/j.rehab.2020.04.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources