Dance Versus Other Exercise Modalities for Cognitive Impairment Meta-Analysis

A systematic review and network meta-analysis of 209 randomized controlled trials involving 3,773 participants with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. The study compares dance interventions to other exercise modalities across outcomes like global cognition, working memory, and physical performance. It was authored by Ye Zhao and published in 2026.

Use Cases

• Compare standardized mean differences for dance versus other exercise on cognitive function outcomes like MoCA scores.
• Analyze the Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking Curve (SUCRA) rankings for dance across outcomes such as working memory, attention, and physical performance.
• Examine p-values from pairwise meta-analyses to identify statistically significant effects of dance interventions.
• Investigate the network meta-analysis results for outcomes where dance ranked lower, such as executive function and speed/attention control.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on 209 randomized controlled trials, providing a substantial evidence base.
• Includes data from 3,773 total participants across the included studies.
• Employs both pairwise and network meta-analysis methods within a random-effects model.

Limitations

• Several favorable ranking results for dance are noted to be driven by single studies, indicating potential evidence sparsity.
• The dataset is a 927.0 KB PDF document, limiting direct computational analysis without text extraction.
• The underlying participant-level data from the 209 trials is not provided, only the aggregated analysis results.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Ye Zhao.

Collection Method

Systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials from five databases.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated in March 2026.

Geography

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