Effect of Physical Activity and Exercise on Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Keywords:
Macular degeneration in the elderly, Effects of physical activities, Effects of exercise, Vision maintenance in the elderly with AMDAbstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision impairment and severe vision loss. Ophthalmologists recommend treatment methods such as vitamin and mineral supplements, injections to help inhibit the formation of abnormal new blood vessels, physical activity and exercise are other methods that ophthalmologists recommend for patients to use in taking care of their own health. International researchs had accepted its effectiveness and safety in inhibiting the development of AMD in the elderly for a longer period of time. Because the study of the effectiveness and safety of physical activities and exercise on AMD in the elderly requires a long-term trial to see clear results, such data in Thailand is limited. This study objectives 1) to study and research on the effects of physical activity and exercise on AMD in the elderly abroad and 2) to synthesize and summarize the main ideas of the research results on the effects of physical activity and exercise on AMD in the elderly abroad and present the research results along with discussing the results in accordance with the medical treatment of patients in Thailand. The study method is a meta-analysis research, collecting data from foreign research articles from PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, ERIC and ProQuest, etc., selecting only research studies with study results mentioning the effectiveness of treating macular degeneration in the elderly using physical activities and exercise only, from those published in the past until February 2025.
Results: The study found all types of clinical research articles, totaling 61 articles. Then, the articles that were randomized controlled trials; RCT, case control studies, cross-sectional studies in the form of diagnostic accuracy studies were selected. The study results were analyzed for the level of correlation values in the study of the efficacy and safety of physical activities and exercise on macular degeneration in the elderly from all 17 research articles. It was found that physical activity and exercise are associated with age-related macular degeneration in the elderly (p – value <0.01), with a variance or difference of 37.4 percent (r = 0.374), indicating that the difference may be moderate. Therefore, physical activity and exercise can be used to recommend eye health care for the elderly with macular degeneration.
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