Effects of Cardiac Rehabilitation on Executive Function in Sedentary Older Adults

Cardiac rehabilitation(CR) can help improve cognitive function in sedentary older adults. However, there is no systematic review about effects of CR on cognitive function in these older adults. We have performed a systematic review to assess the validity of the current data, including recent randomized controlled trial(RCT) and prospective studies that the effect of CR on cognition in older adults. All studies were searched on the PubMed and Cochrane Library from January 1, 2000 to September 30, 2016. Seven hundred sixty-eight studies were identified using the database as described in the Methods section. After removal of duplicates and determined whether it met inclusion criteria, 68 full-text studies were assessed for eligibility. Sixty-one studies were excluded, leaving 7 studies that were eligible for review. A total of 7 studies were included in the analysis. Only two studies were RCT. The majority (n=5) were categorized as prospective studies. a meta-analysis of two studies demonstrated that improved executive function in sedentary older adults after CR sessions when compared to controls. In conclusion, our meta-analysis showed that CR improved executive function in sedentary older adults.