Effects of resistance training in healthy older people with sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Nan Chen; Xiangfeng He; Yuwei Feng; Barbara E Ainsworth; Yu Liu

doi:10.1186/s11556-021-00277-7

Effects of resistance training in healthy older people with sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Eur Rev Aging Phys Act. 2021 Nov 11;18(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s11556-021-00277-7.

Authors

Nan Chen^#^{1

2

3}, Xiangfeng He^#², Yuwei Feng^#³, Barbara E Ainsworth⁴, Yu Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Rehabilitation, Xinhua Hospital Chongming Branch, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Rehabilitation, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China. yuliu@sus.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis to analyze the effects of resistance training on measures of body composition, muscle strength, and muscle performance in older people with sarcopenia.

Methods: All randomized controlled trials on the effects of resistance training on outcome variables in older people with sarcopenia were searched on Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang. Data from January 2010 to October 2020 were reviewed. Two researchers extracted data and evaluated the quality of the studies that met the inclusion criteria independently. Meta-analysis for pre-post changes were calculated as standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: Fourteen studies meeting inclusion criteria included 561 healthy older adults (age 65.8 to 82.8) with sarcopenia. Compared with the control group, resistance training had positive effects on body fat mass (SMD = -0.53, 95% CI - 0.81 to - 0.25, p = 0.0002, I² = 0%), handgrip strength (SMD = 0.81, 95%CI 0.35 to 1.27, p = 0.0005, I² = 81%), knee extension strength (SMD = 1.26, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.80, p < 0.0001, I² = 67%), gait speed (SMD = 1.28, 95%CI 0.36 to 2.19, p = 0.006, I² = 89%), and the timed up and go test (SMD = -0.93, 95% CI - 1.30 to - 0.56, p < 0.0001, I² = 23%). Resistance training had no effects on appendicular skeletal muscle mass (SMD = 0.25, 95% CI - 0.27 to 0.78, p = 0.35, I² = 68%), skeletal muscle mass (SMD = 0.27, 95% CI - 0.02 to 0.56, p = 0.07, I² = 0%) and leg lean mass (SMD = 0.12, 95% CI - 0.25 to 0.50, p = 0.52, I² = 0%). Old people with sarcopenia of different ages, genders or diagnostic criteria and weights have different gains in muscle mass, handgrip strength, knee extension strength and muscle performance after different intervention duration, frequencies, mode and intensity resistance training.

Conclusion: Resistance training is an effective treatment to improve body fat mass, muscle strength, and muscle performance in healthy older people with sarcopenia.

Keywords: Body composition; Muscle performance; Muscle strength; Resistance training; Sarcopenia.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

2020YJZX0137/Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau