Recreational soccer as sport medicine for middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundStrategies to prevent or attenuate the age-related decline in physical and physiological function and reduce chronic disease risk factors are of clinical importance.ObjectiveTo examine the health benefits of recreational soccer in middle-aged and older adults.DesignSystematic review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.Data sourcesAll available records up until 9 June 2017 in PubMed, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library databases.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesAll randomised trials with or without a control group (randomised controlled trials or randomised uncontrolled trials) and non-randomised controlled trials that used recreational soccer, which includes small-sided soccer games, as the sole or principal intervention, and reported relevant effects in untrained/sedentary, healthy or unhealthy adults aged 40 years and above were included.ResultsFive trials described in 13 articles were included, which scored 6–9 out of 12 points on the modified Delphi quality rating scale. The duration was from 12 to 52 weeks, with various frequencies, volumes and game formats performed both outdoors and indoors with men and women. The trials indicate that recreational soccer may result in improvement in cardiovascular function, body composition and functional ability, although no significant changes were observed in postural balance.ConclusionRecreational soccer should be considered an alternative exercise modality for untrained, healthy or unhealthy middle-aged and older adults of both sexes to maintain an active lifestyle and mitigate a wide array of physical and physiological age-related changes.

Effects of Recreational Small-Sided Soccer Games on Bone Mineral Density in Untrained Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The importance of BMD across all ages and sexes is widely recognized (Johnell et al 2005;Turner 2002) since this variable is a key predictor of future potential diseases [52]. As such, one of the main goals of physical and conditioning specialists of high-risk popula-tions (e.g., untrained adults) is to maintain or improve BMD levels through entertaining activities that encourage contact with peers, as recreational soccer does [28]. Our metaanalysis results revealed non-significant differences in the increase of total body BMD when the effects of soccer SSG programs were compared with passive control conditions.…”

“…The use of recreational soccer as an approach for non-pharmacological clinical programs for specific adult populations has been widely researched [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]. However, the use of SSGs, in particular, was only recently summarized in a systematic review that was not dedicated to a specific outcome, and no meta-analysis was conducted [ 30 ].…”

Effects of the Small-Sided Soccer Games on Blood Pressure in Untrained Hypertensive Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Although some systematic reviews have been done on the effects of recreational soccer in healthy and clinical populations [ 21 , 22 ], only one has summarized such findings related to SSGs [ 23 ]. This review [ 23 ] summarizes the findings related to different outcomes and populations (healthy and clinical) but does not include a meta-analysis.…”

Football society players over the age of 55: how stressful can a match be?

“…Considering that many older adults are sedentary, the loss of physical fitness focused on health usually hinders the practice of many activities that could be pleasurable and contribute to the preservation of an adequate degree of autonomy (Maciel, 2010). The effectiveness of a particular sport to improve health will depend not only on the prevalence and participation in sport, but also on the physical demands of the activity practiced (Luo, Newton, Ma'ayah, Galvão, & Taaffe, 2018). Both professional and recreational football is an acyclic sport modality, characterized by intermittent effort with short recovery intervals between actions, interspersing high and low intensity effort (Krustrup, Dvorak, Junge, & Bangsbo, 2010).…”