Association of physical activity and cardiorespiratory function or BMI and body composition in preterm-born individuals: a systematic review

Aim: To evaluate the association of physical activity (PA) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), peak oxygen consumption (pVO2), body mass index (BMI) and body composition in preterm-born individuals. Methods: Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, AMED, ERIC, Web of Science and PsycInfo were searched with no restriction on language and date of publication from inception to January 2018. Data were extracted comparing preterm-born individuals with different frequencies of PA and the outcome of interest. Results: One randomized controlled, two longitudinal and thirteen cross-sectional studies comprising 1922 preterm-born individuals aged 5–25 were included. Assessment varied from a PA program to accelerometer data, interviews and self-report questionnaires. In preterm-born children, more PA was associated with better cardiorespiratory function in those groups with impaired lung function or with lower BMI in those groups with increased risk factors, but no association was found in unimpaired children. In preterm-born adults, more PA was associated with higher pVO2 and lower BMI. Conclusion: Only tentative conclusions can be drawn, especially regarding differences of the association of PA between preterm- and term-born populations. Further studies are needed to analyse the association of PA in preterm-born individuals with reduced cardiorespiratory function.