CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 285Schizophrenia research and treatmentPhysical Activity and HealthDiversity and Impact of Dance

Exercise Therapy for Schizophrenia

Open access
Gorczynski, P., Faulkner, G.·2010·Schizophrenia Bulletin
DOI 10.1093/schbul/sbq049PMC PMC2894605
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

The health benefits of physical activity and exercise are well documented, and these effects could help people with schizophrenia. To determine the mental health effects of exercise/physical activity programs for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (December 2008), which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO. We also inspected references within relevant papers. We included all randomized controlled trials comparing any intervention where physical activity or exercise was considered to be the main or active ingredient with standard care or other treatments for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. We independently inspected citations and abstracts, ordered papers, quality assessed, and data extracted. For binary outcomes, we calculated a fixed-effect risk ratio and its 95% CI. Where possible, the weighted number needed to treat/harm statistic (NNT/H) and its 95% CI was also calculated. For continuous outcomes, endpoint data were preferred to change data. We synthesized nonskewed data from valid scales using a weighted mean difference. Three randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. Trials assessed the effects of exercise on physical and mental health. Overall numbers leaving the trials were similar. Two trials compared exercise with standard care and both found exercise to significantly improve negative symptoms of mental state (Mental Health Inventory Depression: 1 RCT, n = 10, Mean Difference [MD] 17.50 CI 6.70–28.30, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS] negative: 1 RCT, n = 10, MD −8.50 CI −11.11 to −5.89; figure 1). No absolute effects were found for positive symptoms of mental state. Physical health improved significantly in the exercise group compared with those in standard care (1 RCT, n = 13, MD 79.50 CI 33.82–125.18; figure 2), but no effect on peoples’ weight/BMI was apparent. One study compared exercise with yoga and found that yoga had a better outcome for mental state (PANSS total: 1 RCT, n = 41, MD 14.95 CI 2.60–27.30). The same trial also found that those in the yoga group had significantly better quality of life scores (World Health Organization Quality of Life physical: 1 RCT, n = 41, MD −9.22 CI −18.86 to 0.42). Adverse effects (Abnormal Voluntary Movements Scale total scores) were, however, similar. Comparison 1: Exercise vs Standard Care; Outcome: Mental state PANSS Negative endpoint score (low score = good). Comparison 1: Exercise vs Standard Care; Outcome: Physical fitness: 6-min walking test—average endpoint score (high score = good). Although studies included in this review are small and used various measures of physical and mental health, results indicated that regular exercise programs are possible in this population and that they can have healthful effects on both the physical and mental health and well being of individuals with schizophrenia. Larger randomized studies are required before any definitive conclusions can be drawn. Internal Sources of Support: Faculty of Physical Education and Health, University of Toronto, Canada. External Sources of Support: Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Canada; Centre for Urban Health Initiatives, Canada.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/schbul/sbq049

Cites

8 of 8 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Cochrane reviews have confirmed the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of both depression and schizophrenia.

    “Cochrane reviews on exercise and mental illness have con fi rmed the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of both depression (Cooney et al. 2013) and schizophrenia (Gorczynski and Faulkner 2010).”

    From A call to action: Exercise as treatment for patients with mental illness (2015) · cites this paper as Gorczynski and Faulkner 2010

    For the schizophrenia portion of the sentence, the Results (pp. 665–666) report improvements in negative symptoms in two small trials comparing exercise with standard care. But the Authors’ Conclusions say larger randomized studies are needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn, so the claim that the review ‘confirmed’ exercise’s effectiveness overstates its findings. The depression citation is not being judged here. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Exercise has demonstrated benefits for people with mental illness, including symptom reduction, improved cardiovascular risk profile, and improved physical capacity.

    “In addition to pharmacological and psychological interventions, exercise has demonstrated bene fi ts for people with mental illness including symptom reduction, improvedcardiovascularriskpro fi le and improved physical capacity.”

    From A call to action: Exercise as treatment for patients with mental illness (2015) · cites this paper as Gorczynski and Faulkner 2010

    The Results (pp. 665–666) report improved negative symptoms and physical health with exercise; the Study or Subgroup figure identifies the physical outcome as six-minute walking-test performance. The paper does not report an improved cardiovascular risk profile, and its findings concern people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses rather than people with mental illness generally. The Authors’ Conclusions also caution that the studies were small and larger trials are needed. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Gorczynski, P., & Faulkner, G.
Affiliations
University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author
Gorczynski, P.
ORCID
Venue
Schizophrenia Bulletin
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2010-05-19
Volume
36
Issue
4
Pages
665-666
ISSN
  • 0586-7614 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-1701
DOI
10.1093/schbul/sbq049
PMC
PMC2894605
OpenAlex
W1968929298
Cited by
285
References
8
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 20
FWCI
19.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Schizophrenia Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Diversity and Impact of Dance
Keywords
exercise therapy, schizophrenia
MeSH terms
Exercise Therapy, Humans, Motor Activity, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Quality of Life, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Yoga, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review