Background: In order to introduce elderly people to be physically active, it is necessary to evaluate which types of exercise show a high adherence. Therefore, the objective of this systematic literature review was to determine adherence rates in intervention programs to promote physical activity in older adults.
Methods: Forty-six studies investigating the effects of aerobic, resistance, power, balance, Tai Chi training, and multimodal training were included following a systematic literature search. Adherence rates were evaluated using multiple linear regression analysis.
Results: No significant correlations were observed between adherence rates and exercise programs. However, there was a significant association between adherence rate and training frequency (-2,9%; p=0,042), training duration (-0,2%; p=0,016) and number of participants (-0,1%; p=0,008).
Conclusion: To ensure a high adherence to training programs with older people, it seems that to a lesser extent the contents of training, but rather the training modalities (i.e., training frequency, intervention duration) and the number of participants appear to be of importance.