Fysioterapeuten (May 2009)
Physical activity as treatment of mental health in schizophrenia
Abstract
Purpose: to answer; can physical activity improve mental health for patients with schizophrenia? Design: systematic review. Method: Systematic searches of the databases: PubMed, Medline, Cinal, SportDiscus, PsychInfo and ISI in September/October 2007. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were set in advance. Results: Ten studies (186 patients) were included based on the inclusion criteria. Six quantitative-, two qualitative- and two adopting mixed method designs. The studies median sample size was 9 (range 1-61). The methodological quality was poor. The interventions were individually structured exercise programs with moderate intensity, endurance exercise in 8 studies and weight-training in 2. The results from all included studies indicated improvement of mental health for patients with schizophrenia who voluntarily participated in physical activity. The improvement was on negative and positive schizophrenic symptoms and on quality of life in general. Physical seemed to be a well-liked coping strategy. Conclusion: Even though the studies had few participants and were methodically weak, it seems that physical activity can improve mental health in patients with schizophrenia. Further research is needed in order to examine how best to deliver physical activity based interventions and to estimate their cost-effectiveness.
