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
Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Sep;15(9):1194-1209.
doi: 10.1002/pmrj.12891. Epub 2023 Jan 27.

The therapeutic effects of climbing: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Lucia Gassner  1   2   3 , Peter Dabnichki  2 , Agnes Langer  4 , Rochus Pokan  1 , Heidemarie Zach  4 , Michaela Ludwig  4 , Agnes Santer  4
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The therapeutic effects of climbing: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Lucia Gassner et al. PM R. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: Several recent studies show a growing popularity of therapeutic climbing (TC) for patients with various conditions. This could be an attempt to fill the gap left by traditional exercises that do not always address physical, mental, and social well-being. This review provides an overview of the physical, mental, and social effects and safety aspects of climbing for different indications.

Literature survey: A literature search was conducted on July 8, 2020 (update search August 26, 2021). We searched MEDLINE via Ovid, Embase, and PubMed and bibliographies of included studies, and we conducted a manual search.

Methodology: Two independent reviewers evaluated the quality of the studies using appropriate Risk of Bias (RoB) tools, and the level of evidence for each domain was graded. Study characteristics and effectiveness data for TC were extracted and synthesized. Meta-analyses were conducted for the three dimensions (physical/mental/social health), using a random-effects model.

Synthesis: A total of 112 publications were reviewed, and 22 full-text articles were assessed regarding the eligibility criteria, of which 18 trials involving 568 patients were included. TC is safe and positively affects physical (e.g., fitness, motor control, movement velocity, dexterity, strength), mental (e.g., depressiveness, somatisation, psychoticism, emotion regulation, body perception, self-esteem, fatigue), and social (e.g., social functioning, trust, communication, sense of responsibility) health for individuals with neurological, orthopedic, psychiatric, and pediatric ailments. The meta-analysis showed a statistically significant improvement in the physical dimension favoring the climbing group. Improvements that were not statistically significant were found for the mental/social dimensions in the climbing group. The heterogeneity of data was moderate/high (social/mental dimension), and for the physical dimension, data were homogenous.

Conclusions: The studies investigating TC outline its positive effects in various patient groups. TC is a safe and effective treatment for improving physical/mental/social well-being. This review is based on the best available evidence; however, significant gaps remain in providing sufficiently strong evidence.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Dorscht L, Karg N, Book S, Graessel E, Kornhuber J, Luttenberger K. A German climbing study on depression: a bouldering psychotherapeutic group intervention in outpatients compared with state-of-the-art cognitive behavioural group therapy and physical activation - study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry. 2019;19(1):154. doi:10.1186/s12888-019-2140-5
    1. Schweizer A. Sport climbing from a medical point of view. Swiss Med Wkly. 2012;142:13688. doi:10.4414/smw.2012.13688
    1. Kleinstauber M, Reuter M, Doll N, Fallgatter AJ. Rock climbing and acute emotion regulation in patients with major depressive disorder in the context of a psychological inpatient treatment: a controlled pilot trial. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2017;10:277-281. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S143830
    1. Luttenberger K, Stelzer EM, Forst S, Schopper M, Kornhuber J, Book S. Indoor rock climbing (bouldering) as a new treatment for depression: study design of a waitlist-controlled randomized group pilot study and the first results. BMC Psychiatry. 2015;15(1):201. doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0585-8
    1. Kim SH, Seo DY. Effects of a therapeutic climbing program on muscle activation and SF-36 scores of patients with lower back pain. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015;27(3):743-746. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.743

Publication types