Impact of Exercise Training on Depressive Symptoms in Cancer Patients: A Critical Analysis
by
, , ,
Priscila Marconcin
1,2,*, 
Adilson Marques
1,3
,
Gerson Ferrari
4
,
Élvio R. Gouveia
5,6,7
,
Miguel Peralta
1,3 and 
Andreas Ihle
7,8,9 
1
Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudo da Performance Humana, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1495-751 Lisbon, Portugal
2
KinesioLab, Research Unit in Human Movement Analysis, Piaget Institute, 2805-059 Almada, Portugal
3
ISAMB, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-020 Lisbon, Portugal
4
Laboratorio de Rendimiento Humano, Grupo de Estudio en Educación, Actividad Física y Salud (GEEAFyS), Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca 3460000, Chile
5
Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal
6
Laboratory of Robotics and Systems in Engineering and Science (LARSyS), Interactive Technologies Institute, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal
7
Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
8
Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
9
Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES—Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biology 2022, 11(4), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11040614
Submission received: 1 March 2022
/
Revised: 1 April 2022
/
Accepted: 14 April 2022
/
Published: 18 April 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Mechanisms Underlying Physical Fitness and Sports Performance)
Simple Summary
Cancer patients need to overcome several issues, leaving them more vulnerable to depressive symptoms. Exercise is recognised as a practice that helps to deal with depressive symptoms. This study is an umbrella review of meta-analyses about the effect of exercise on depressive symptoms among cancer patients. Six studies were included. A significant reduction in depressive symptoms was observed because of exercise. However, the studies varied in methodological terms, making a broad generalisation difficult. We can conclude that exercise is a good alternative to deal with depressive symptoms among cancer patients. Still, more studies are needed to clarify some aspects that are not answered yet.
Abstract
Background: Cancer patients must deal with several health challenges, including emotional distress and depressive symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate evidence from published systematic reviews and meta-analyses about the efficacy of exercise on depressive symptoms in cancer patients. Methods: We searched for previous meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials on PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, with data inception to 30 December 2021. Two independent researchers assessed the methodological quality using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR2) instrument. Six meta-analyses were integrated. All included middle-aged and older adults. Five presented moderate quality, and one presented low quality. Results: Overall, a significant reduction in depressive symptoms was observed among the included studies. However, the heterogeneity between studies was high, and high-quality evidence for the efficacy of exercise on depressive symptoms was limited. Conclusions: Exercise could be a possibility in the treatment of depressive symptoms in cancer patients, especially when supervised and outside the home. The better dose of exercise needs to be clarified. More high-quality evidence is needed to better prescribe exercise to this vulnerable population.
Keywords:
tumour; exercise; depression; mental health; cancer survivorship
