Table 3

Summary data on the effects of physical activity interventions on anxiety for a range of clinical conditions, including the number of reviews, studies and participants covered; and the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile for standardised mean differences

ConditionReviewsRCTs*Participants†Standardised mean difference
25th percentileMedian75th percentile
Arthritis2291859–0.63–0.52–0.40
Cancer12724955–0.50–0.240.06
Blood132490.18
Breast7462862–0.72–0.530.44
Colorectal1498–0.11
Lung16695–0.26
Non-specific213951–0.21–0.050.17
Chronis obstructive pulmonary disease2141067–0.76–0.55–0.33
General population272781–0.99–0.85–0.70
HIV/AIDS15185–1.23
Kidney disease24246–0.78–0.78–0.78
Mental disorders640>2133–0.59–0.43–0.34
Anxiety325>1197–0.54–0.43–0.41
Cognitive impairment13210–0.33
Post-traumatic stress disorder29>101–0.59–0.44–0.30
Schizophrenia1394–0.26
Substance abuse disorder17741–0.31
Multiple sclerosis14133–0.16
  • *Reviews may have included overlapping randomised controlled trials.

  • †Randomised controlled trials may have included overlapping participants.

  • RCTs, randomised controlled trials.