Systematic Review of Dance Versus Exercise for Cognitive Impairment

209 randomized controlled trials involving 3,773 participants were analyzed in this network meta-analysis. The study compares the efficacy of dance to other exercise modalities on outcomes like global cognition, working memory, and physical performance for individuals with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. It was conducted by Ye Zhao and published on figshare.

Use Cases

• Compare dance and other exercise modalities on global cognition using MoCA scores from the network meta-analysis.
• Rank interventions for working memory and attention outcomes based on Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking Curve values.
• Analyze the comparative efficacy of interventions on physical performance and mood outcomes reported in the systematic review.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on 209 randomized controlled trials, providing a broad evidence base.
• The study includes data from 3,773 total participants across the included trials.
• Uses a network meta-analysis methodology to compare multiple intervention types simultaneously.

Limitations

• Several favorable ranking results for dance are driven by single studies, indicating sparse evidence for some conclusions.
• The primary data is a PDF summary of the meta-analysis, not the underlying raw trial data.
• The 1.9 MB file size indicates the dataset is a document, limiting direct computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Ye Zhao.

Collection Method

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

Freshness

Last updated March 25, 2026.