Effects of digital physical activity interventions on muscle mechanical function in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM: To investigate the effect of digital exercise interventions on muscle mechanical function in community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and above.

METHODS: Systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE (Ovid), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science until end of March 2024. The Cochrane RoB2.0 tool and GRADE were employed for quality assessment. We performed meta-analysis using random-effects model and sub-group and meta-regression analyses to investigate the robustness of the findings. GRADE was used to assess the overall certainty of the evidence.

RESULTS: Thirty RCTs, comprising 1697 participants with a mean age of 71.27 years, were included in the data analysis. The meta-analysis revealed a significant overall effect of technology-based physical activity intervention on muscle mechanical function (Hedge's g = 0.27, p = < 0.001). In the sub-analysis, 18 studies focused on interactive interventions on handgrip strength (SMD 0.10, 95% CI -0.17 to 0.38) and leg strength (SMD 0.56, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.93). The overall certainty of the evidence was deemed low.

CONCLUSION: Digital interventions focusing on physical activity interventions have generally shown small but significant improvements in older adults. Interactive and semi-interactive interventions were effective, while passive ones were not.