Physical Health Impairment and Exercise as Medicine in Severe Mental Disorders: A Narrative Review

Brobakken, Mathias Forsberg; Nygård, Mona; Wang, Eivind

doi:10.1186/s40798-022-00490-3

Sports Medicine - Open

Table 3 Effects of endurance training in people with severe mental disorders

From: Physical Health Impairment and Exercise as Medicine in Severe Mental Disorders: A Narrative Review

Study	Population	Design and study duration	Participants^a		Modality	Frequency and duration	Intensity	Results
Study	Population	Design and study duration	Included, n	Completers, n (%)	Modality	Frequency and duration	Intensity	Results
Lin et al. [80]	Schizophrenia spectrum disorders	RCT, 12 weeks	40	29 (73%)	Walking and cycling	3 times/week 45–60 min	60–75% of HR_peak	Directly measured treadmill \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{max}}}}\) increased by 2.1 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹ (7%)
Scheewe et al. [81]	Schizophrenia spectrum disorders	RCT, 6 months	30	28 (93%)	Treadmill, cycle ergometer, rowing, cross trainer	2 times/week 40 min	45–75% of HR reserve	No change in directly measured \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{max}}}}\) on cycle ergometer
Kimhy et al. [79]	Schizophrenia spectrum disorders	RCT, 12 weeks	16	13 (81%)	Treadmill, cycle ergometer, elliptical machine, active-play video game	3 times/week 45 min	60 to ≥ 90% of HR_max	Directly measured cycle ergometer \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{peak}}}}\) increased by 3.1 ± 3.3 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹(15%)
Brobakken et al. [13]	Schizophrenia spectrum disorders	RCT, 12 weeks	25	16 (64%)	Treadmill walking/running	2 times/week 4 × 4-min intervals	90% of HR_peak	Directly measured treadmill \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{peak}}}}\) increased by 3.1 ± 3.7 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹ (10%)
Heggelund et al. [85]	Schizophrenia spectrum disorders	CT, 8 weeks	16	12 (75%)	Treadmill walking/running	3 times/week 4 × 4-min intervals	90% of HR_peak	Directly measured treadmill \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{peak}}}}\) increased by 4.2 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹ (12%) Walking work efficiency increased by 12%
Andersen et al. [87]	Schizophrenia spectrum disorders	RCT, 12 weeks	43	34 (79%)	Treadmill walking/running	2 times/week 4 × 4-min intervals	90% of HR_max	Directly measured treadmill \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{max}}}}\) increased by 2.4 ± 4.5 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹ ^b (8%)
Kerling et al. [41]	Major depressive disorder	RCT, 6 weeks	22	22 (100%)	Cycle ergometer, treadmill, rowing, cross trainer, stepper, arm ergometry	3 times/week 45 min	50% of maximum workload	Directly measured cycle ergometer \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{peak}}}}\) increased by 2.8 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹ (11%)
Danielsson et al. [77]	Major depressive disorder	RCT, 10 weeks	22	18 (82%)	Treadmill, cycle ergometer, cross trainer, stepper, rowing, jumping ropes	2 times/week 45 min	Intervals at 16–17 on the Borg scale	\({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{max}}}}\) estimated to increase by 3.0 ± 0.5 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹ (13%) with submaximal cycle test
Romain et al. [17]	Psychosis patients	RCT, 6 months	38	21 (55%)	Treadmill walking/running	2 times/week 30 min, 30-s sprint intervals	80–90% of HR_max	\({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{max}}}}\) estimated to increase with submaximal treadmill test

Data are mean and standard deviation if reported
RCT, randomized controlled trial; CT, controlled trial; HR_peak, peak heart rate; HR_max, maximal heart rate; \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{max}}}}\), maximal oxygen uptake; \({\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{peak}}}}\), peak oxygen uptake
^aParticipants randomized/included in exercise training groups reported
^bIncrease only in participants instructed by competent personnel.

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