Exercise Prescription for Dementia: what did we learn after 15 years of research

Effective exercise training and regular physical activity (PA) practice are important for healthy aging and are key interventions for chronic diseases. Evidence supporting best approaches for exercise prescription for older adults with cognitive impairments is unclear and inadequate. Thus, the exercise prescription should take into consideration the person’s health status, functional capacity, and living arrangements. Since the publishing of our meta-analysis evaluating the effects of randomized exercise trials on cognitive function of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairments (OAwCIs) (Heyn et al 2004), several meta-analysis reviews were published addressing similar question. Thus, we currently appraised this evidence and preliminary synthesis of twenty-one, well-designed meta-analysis reports that will be presented in this session.