A Systematic Review of Exercise Interventions and Their Relationship to Secondary Condition Reduction in People with Disabilities

Health professionals and researchers have strived to develop strategies for mitigating secondary conditions among populations with disabilities, including the use of exercise. However, limited research has focused on developing an evidence base for examining the effects of exercise on reducing secondary conditions. We conducted a systematic literature review of 139 exercise trials for six secondary conditions on 11 disability groups. The strength levels of evidence are categorized as: Strong—two or more randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with positive results and no studies reported significant negative effects; Moderate—one RCT with positive results and no studies reported significant negative effects; Limited—at least one Non-RCT with positive results and no studies with significant negative effects. There was strong evidence suggesting the use of exercise for decreasing Pain in individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI); Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis (MS); and Depression in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Mental Illness. There was moderate evidence for the use of exercise in decreasing Pain in Intellectual Disability (ID); Fatigue in Muscular Dystrophy; Depression in MS, SCI, Stroke, and ID; reducing Overweight in Stroke, ID, and Mental Illness; improving Quality of Sleep in SCI and AD; and improving Interpersonal Relationships in Stroke and Mental Illness. There was limited or no evidence on the remaining disabilities. It is important to have more studies targeting the use of exercise on reducing certain secondary conditions, especially in populations with limited findings.