Examination of the Effectiveness of Physical Activity Interventions on the Wellbeing of Caregivers of Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Caregivers of older adults afflicted with a variety of chronic physical and mental health conditions provide vital support and assistance for this growing population. Although essential, many individuals in this time-consuming role are unprepared older adults themselves, which creates significant burdens on their own mental and physical health. Caregivers are at risk for depression, loneliness, and reduced health related to chronic stress. Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) interventions alleviate aspects of this burden and psychological distress, as well as provide benefits to physical health. However, there are notable limitations in the previous reviews that have attempted to synthesize the evidence for the benefits of PA interventions. Using meta-analytic methodology, this study investigated and quantified the impact of PA interventions on different domains of mental and physical health for caregivers of older adults. A comprehensive search yielded 25 controlled studies. PA interventions led to small-to-medium effects on mental health, with the most notable impact on quality of life. PA interventions led to trivial effects on physical health, with small but significant effects found for mobility outcomes. Moderator analyses revealed that yoga interventions, study quality, and duration of interventions had significant moderating effects. PA interventions appear to be effective for improving caregiver health, particularly in relation to psychological health. Further high-quality research using standardized measures for health domains is needed to determine the type, format, and length of PA interventions that best serve different caregiving populations.