Ernst, Moritz ORCID: 0000-0003-0360-913X
(2025).
The potential of physical exercise: Evidence from two complex systematic reviews in Parkinson's disease and cancer.
PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.
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Abstract
Background Physical exercise is a promising treatment option for improving health outcomes in people with various health conditions including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and cancer. Evidence of beneficial effects has been identified for several exercise programs for people with PD, but the relative impact of different exercise types on outcomes such as the severity of motor signs and quality of life (QoL) remains uncertain. Positive effects on health outcomes including cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and QoL have been demonstrated also for different types of exercise for people with cancer, but previous evidence syntheses provided promising but inconclusive results about the specific impact of resistance training. Objective The objective of this dissertation was to investigate the potential of physical exercise to improve health outcomes in people with PD and people with cancer by conducting comprehensive systematic reviews that integrate the most recent evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods This cumulative dissertation comprises two systematic reviews: • Systematic review I: A systematic review with network meta-analysis to compare the effects of different types of physical exercise in people with PD on the severity of motor signs, QoL and adverse events, and to generate a clinically relevant treatment ranking. • Systematic review II: A systematic review with pairwise meta-analysis to compare the effects of resistance training with no training on CRF at different periods of treatment in relation to anticancer therapy, and different periods of assessment, and to compare the effects of resistance training with no training on QoL and adverse events. Results Systematic review I identified evidence of beneficial effects for most types of physical exercise for people with PD included in the review compared with a passive control group: Dance and gait/balance/functional training probably have a moderate beneficial effect, and multi-domain training probably has a small beneficial effect, on the severity of motor signs. Endurance, aqua-based, strength/resistance, and mind-body training might have a small beneficial effect on the severity of motor signs. Aqua-based training probably has a large beneficial effect on QoL. Mind-body, gait/balance/functional, and multi-domain training and dance might have a small beneficial effect on QoL. Across outcomes, there was little evidence of differences between exercise programs. In systematic review II, evidence of beneficial effects for resistance training compared with no training for people with cancer was observed: Resistance training during anticancer therapy probably has a beneficial effect on short term CRF and may have a small beneficial effect on short term QoL. Resistance training after anticancer therapy may have a small beneficial effect or no effect on short term QoL. The evidence was very uncertain about the medium, and long term effects of resistance training. In both systematic reviews, the evidence was very uncertain about the effects of physical exercise on adverse events. Conclusion This dissertation provides evidence of beneficial effects of several types of physical exercise on the severity of motor signs and QoL for people with PD, and evidence of beneficial effects of resistance training during anticancer therapy on CRF and QoL for people with cancer. Therefore, this dissertation highlights the potential of physical exercise to improve health outcomes in people with PD and people with cancer. More consistent and complete reporting of adverse events in RCTs is needed to evaluate the safety of exercise with more certainty.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD thesis) | ||||||||||
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-752986 | ||||||||||
Date: | 25 February 2025 | ||||||||||
Language: | English | ||||||||||
Faculty: | Faculty of Medicine | ||||||||||
Divisions: | Unspecified | ||||||||||
Subjects: | Life sciences Medical sciences Medicine Athletic and outdoor sports and games |
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Date of oral exam: | 12 February 2025 | ||||||||||
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Refereed: | Yes | ||||||||||
URI: | http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/75298 |
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