AUTHOR=Ren Shuangquan , Che Xinrui , Hu Shunding , Feng Xiaosu , Zhang Jianming , Shi Peng 

TITLE=The effect of exercise intervention on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1499407

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2025.1499407

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=ObjectiveQuantitative evaluation of the effect of exercise intervention in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).MethodsThe CNKI, WOS, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched by computer, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise intervention in ALS were screened out according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the PICOS principle. Stata 12.0 software was used for statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 12 RCTs including 430 participants were included. Meta-analysis results show that exercise intervention can significantly improve the overall function, walking test (WT) distance and maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) of ALS patients (p < 0.05). However, exercise interventions did not show significant effects on fatigue, maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), forced vital capacity (FVC), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) in ALS patients (p > 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that resistance exercise is the most effective intervention for improving the function of ALS patients, while aerobic exercise is the most effective intervention for improving FVC in ALS patients.ConclusionExercise intervention in ALS has a positive effect, but due to the small number of included studies and possible heterogeneity, risk of bias and sensitivity issues, further research is needed.