Comparative impact of exercise variants on depressive symptoms in cancer patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to conduct a network meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness of various forms of exercise as an intervention for post-cancer depression and to provide a guiding program based on evidence-based medicine for subsequent clinical practice.

Methods: This review was registered on the PROSPERO website with ID CRD42023485407. Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were comprehensively searched to obtain published articles from the establishment of the database until October 7, 2023. Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted. Statistical analysis was conducted using R4.3.2 and Stata 15.1.

Results: This study ultimately included 51 articles and 4956 samples. Aerobic exercise (SMD = -0.33, 95%CI: 0.58, -0.08), combined exercise (SMD = -0.48, 95%CI: 0.71, -0.26), and mind-body exercise (SMD = -0.35, 95%CI: 0.6, -0.09) significantly improved depression compared with usual care (UC). According to the SUCRA value and cumulative probability, the rank of depression improvement effect of various sports interventions is as follows: combined exercise (90.71%), mind-body exercise (69.64%), aerobic exercise (65.81%), resistance training (35.86%).

Conclusion: Exercise intervention can significantly improve post-cancer depression, but there is no significant difference in the effectiveness of various forms of exercise in improving post-cancer depression.