Effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis

Type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disease that adversely affects cognitive function. Aerobic exercise, an important non-pharmacological intervention, has controversial effects on cognitive function. The goal of this study was to systematically assess the effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive function in patients with T2DM . Seven electronic literature databases were searched: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Wanfang Data, CNKI, and VIP. The search was conducted from the time of construction to June 2025. The data were analyzed using RevMan5.4.1 and stata17. A total of nine studies with 841 patients were included in this study, 410 in the experimental group and 431 in the control group. The results showed that aerobic exercise had a significant effect on cognitive function in patients with T2DM [SMD=0.94, 95% CI (0.63, 1.25), P<0.00001]. Aerobic exercise significantly improves cognitive function in patients with T2DM, but more large-sample, high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed in the future.