Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40863770›Full record

ReviewSports (Basel, Switzerland)2025

The Effect of Physical-Activity-Based Programs on School Children's Cognitive Competence-Related Variables: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Gorka Brioa Saez, Markel Rico-González, Natalia Monge Gómez

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Gorka Brioa SaezDepartment of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, University of the Basque Country, UPV-EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain.
Markel Rico-GonzálezDepartment of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, University of the Basque Country, UPV-EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-9849-0444
Natalia Monge GómezDepartment of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, University of the Basque Country, UPV-EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

(1) Background: Aimed at improving school children's motor, social, emotional, and cognitive competence (CC), the effects of physical activity (PA) have been widely investigated. However, investigations into the effects of PA during Physical Education (PE) on children's CC have only been subject to growing interest among researchers in recent years. To bring it, the present article aims to systematically summarize the PE intervention programs whose effects on school children's CC have been evaluated through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. (2) Methods: This systematic review follows the PRISMA guidelines and has been registered in PROSPERO: CRD420251083924. A systematic literature search was conducted across four electronic databases: PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and ProQuest Central. The articles were included based on the following inclusion criteria: (i) primary education children, (ii) children practicing PE, (iii) outcomes related to CC, and (iv) articles providing evaluations through RCTs. The quality assessment of all included articles was performed using the PEDro scale. (3) Results: Out of 219 initially identified studies, 25 met the inclusion criteria and were synthesized qualitatively. (4) Conclusions: The main outcomes highlighted that PE has a positive effect on primary school children's cognitive ability, including attention, creativity, memory, academic performance, and inhibitory control. Thus, elementary school teachers are encouraged to implement these intervention programs to foster children's CC. However, different types of interventions should be analyzed to highlight their effects on different variables of CC.

Indexed as

academic performancecognitionphysical educationprimary educationsystematic review

Identifiers

PMID40863770
PMCPMC12390218

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.