This systematic review was conducted to examine the cost-effectiveness of exercise interventions in community-dwelling older adults. A systematic search for articles published in English or Spanish was carried out in PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library that covered the period from the respective start date of each database to October 2021. Methodological quality was assessed with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale and quality of economic evaluation with the Quality of Health Economic Studies and Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards. A total of 12 out of 15 studies on exercise programmes for older adults reported cost-effective results. The most cost-effective training appears to be a multicomponent training programme, including aerobic exercise, muscle-strengthening of lower extremities, and balance and stretching training. The training methodology should be of progressive moderate or vigorous intensity performed at least twice per week with each session lasting 60 min for ≥6 months. The exercise programme should be delivered as a group-based intervention, doing extra exercise at home to increase the cost-effectiveness. These findings suggest that exercise interventions in non-institutionalized older people are a cost-effective tool. Sex, age, cognitive status, frailty, frequency and training duration could modify the cost-effectiveness of exercise interventions. Systematic review registration. PROSPERO CRD42021231530 (date of registration: 20/02/2021).
Keywords: Cost-effectiveness; Exercise; Healthy ageing; Older adults.
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