Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Effect of resistance exercise dose components for tendinopathy management: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Pavlova, Anastasia Vladimirovna; Shim, Joanna S.C.; Moss, Rachel; MacLean, Colin; Brandie, David; Mitchell, Laura; Greig, Leon; Parkinson, Eva; Alexander, Lyndsay; Brown, Victoria Tzortziou; Morrissey, Dylan; Cooper, Kay; Swinton, Paul A.

Authors

Rachel Moss

Colin MacLean

David Brandie

Laura Mitchell

Victoria Tzortziou Brown

Dylan Morrissey



Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate potential moderating effects of resistance exercise dose components - including intensity, volume and frequency - for the management of common tendinopathies. The study was conducted through a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regressions, using sources that included (but were not limited to) MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, ClinicalTrials.gov and the ISRCTN Registry. Selection criteria were based on randomised and non-randomised controlled trials investigating resistance exercise as the dominant treatment class, reporting sufficient information regarding two or more components of exercise dose. A total of 110 studies were included in meta-analyses (148 treatment arms (TAs), 3953 participants), reporting on five tendinopathy locations (rotator cuff: 48 TAs; Achilles: 43 TAs; lateral elbow : 29 TAs; patellar: 24 TAs; gluteal: 4 TAs). Meta-regressions provided consistent evidence of greater pooled mean effect sizes for higher intensity therapies comprising additional external resistance compared to body mass only (large effect size domains: βBodyMass:External = 0.50 [95% CrI: 0.15 to 0.84; p = 0.998]; small effect size domains βBodyMass:External = 0.04 [95% CrI: -0.21 to 0.31; p = 0.619]) when combined across tendinopathy locations or analysed separately. Greater pooled mean effect sizes were also identified for the lowest frequency (less than daily) compared with mid (daily) and high frequencies (more than once per day) for both effect size domains, when combined or analysed separately (p ≥ 0.976). Evidence for associations between training volume and pooled mean effect sizes was minimal and inconsistent. The study found that resistance exercise dose is poorly reported within tendinopathy management literature. However, this large meta-analysis identified some consistent patterns indicating greater efficacy on average with therapies prescribing higher intensities (through inclusion of additional loads) and lower frequencies, potentially creating stronger stimuli and facilitating adequate recovery.

Citation

PAVLOVA, A.V., SHIM, J.S.C., MOSS, R., MACLEAN, C., BRANDIE, D., MITCHELL, L., GREIG, L., PARKINSON, E., ALEXANDER, L., BROWN, V.T., MORRISSEY, D., COOPER, K. and SWINTON, P.A. 2023. Effect of resistance exercise dose components for tendinopathy management: a systematic review with meta-analysis. British journal of sports medicine [online], 57(20), pages 1327-1334. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-105754

Journal Article Type Review
Acceptance Date Apr 27, 2023
Online Publication Date May 11, 2023
Publication Date Oct 6, 2023
Deposit Date Apr 28, 2023
Publicly Available Date Apr 28, 2023
Journal British journal of sports medicine
Print ISSN 0306-3674
Electronic ISSN 1473-0480
Publisher BMJ Publishing Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 57
Issue 20
Pages 1327-1334
DOI https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-105754
Keywords Tendinopathy; Exercise therapy; Physiotherapy
Public URL https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1947794
Related Public URLs https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1629033 (Review preprint)
https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1328918 (Protocol preprint)
Additional Information The preprint for this article is available from SportRxiv ( https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.134 ).
This article has been published with separate supporting information. This supporting information has been incorporated into a single file on this repository and can be found at the end of the file associated with this output.

Files

PAVLOVA 2023 Effect of resistance exercise (VOR) (2.3 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. Supplementary materials are appended after the main text of this document.







You might also like



Downloadable Citations