Effects of non-pharmacological interventions on patients with sarcopenic obesity: A meta-analysis

Objective Systematic evaluation of the improvement effect of non-pharmacological intervention on patients with sarcopenic obesity. Methods Wanfang, VIP, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SinoMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases were searched systematically for randomized controlled trials (RCTS) and experimental studies of non-pharmacological interventions on patients with sarcopenic obesity. The retrieval period was from the establishment of the databases to October 31, 2022. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4. Results A total of 18 studies involving 1,109 patients were included. Meta-analysis results showed that non-pharmacological interventions improved patients’ body weight [mean difference, MD = −2.74, 95% CI (−4.79, −0.70), P = 0.009], body fat percentage [MD = −0.67, 95% CI (−0.96, −0.38), P <0.00001], grip strength [MD = 1.29, 95% CI (0.81, 1.77), P<0.00001], gait speed [MD = 0.05, 95% CI (0.03, 0.07), P <0.00001], and knee extension strength [MD = 2.56, 95% CI (1.30, 3.82), P <0.0001]. Conclusions Non-pharmacological interventions can effectively improve the clinical symptoms and signs of patients with sarcopenic obesity. Dissemination of this information will be therapeutically useful. Trial registration Registration . The PROSPERO No. is CRD42023403341 .