Table 2.
Studies containing a climbing intervention.
| Author | Name of the study | Year | Number of Participants | Condition | Durance of the study | Frequency of the intervention | Total time of intervention | Type of the intervention | Important results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mehl and Wolf | Experiential learning in psychotherapy. Evaluation of psychophysical exposure to a tightrope course as adjunct to inpatient psychotherapeutic treatment | 2007 | 247 (155 persons in the intervention group, 92 persons in the control group) | Patients with mental disorders | Not mentioned | Average of 2 visits in the tightrope course by each participant | Not mentioned | Tightrope course (height up to 12 m) | Greater improvement in some outcome criteria (for example depression, self-efficacy, self-rated quality of life, general psychological impairment) |
| Mazzoni et al. | Effect of indoor wall climbing on self-efficacy and self-perceptions of children with special needs | 2009 | 46 (23 children in the intervention group an 23 in the control group) | 6 to 12 year old children with special needs | 6 weeks | 1 × 1 h/week | 6 h | Indoor climbing | Improvement of self-efficacy |
| Fleissner et al. | Therapeutic climbing improves independence, mobility and balance in geriatric patients | 2010 | 95 (48 persons in the intervention group; 47 persons in the control group) | Patients from geriatric ward | Not mentioned | 5 × 30 min | 2.5 h | Therapeutic climbing (wall up to 2.90 m); Conventional physiotherapy for the control group | Handgrip strength, Tinetti-test, timed up & go test and ADL (activity of daily living, Barthel-Index) ↑ in both groups; Number of falls ↓ in both groups; Significant improvements by therapeutic climbing with respect to the timed up & go test, the Tinetti test and ADL in comparison to the control group |
| Velikonja et al. | Influence of sport climbing and yoga on spasticity, cognitive function, mood and fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis | 2010 | 20 | Relapsing-remitting MS or progressive MS, EDSS < 6, EDSS pyramidal functions score >2 | 10 weeks | 1/week | Not mentioned | Sport climbing (wall up to 5 m, inclination 90°) and yoga | Decline in EDSS pyramidal functions score in both groups; improvement of selective attention in the yoga-group; reduced fatigue in the climbing-group |
| Stephan et al. | Effect of long term climbing training on cerebellar ataxia: a case series | 2011 | 4 | Cerebellar ataxia | 6 weeks | From 2 × 30 min/week to 3 × 60 min/week depending on the individual physical condition | 9–18 h for each participant | Indoor climbing (wall up to 2.5 m, inclination adjustable) | Movement velocity ↑; Balance ↑ in 2 patients; Manual dexterity ↑ in 2 patients |
| Engbert and Weber | The effects of therapeutic climbing in patients with chronic low back pain | 2011 | 28 (14 persons in the intervention group, 14 persons in the control group) | Patients with chronic low back pain | 4 weeks | 4 × 45 min/week | 12 h | Therapeutic climbing (wall up to 2.5 m); standard exercise therapy for the control group | Significant improvements in 3/8 subscales of the SF-36 for both groups; In 2/8 subscales, only the therapeutic climbing group improved; In 1/8 subscales only the control group improved |
| Kim and Seo | Effects of a therapeutic climbing program on muscle activation and SF-36 scores of patients with lower back pain | 2015 | 30 (15 persons in the intervention group and 15 persons in the control group) | Patients with chronic lower back pain | 4 weeks | 3 × 30 min/week | 6 h | Therapeutic climbing (wall up to 3 m, inclination 90°); Lumbar-stability mat exercises for the control group | SF-36 score (health related quality of life)↑ in both groups; surface-electromyography-activities ↑ in both groups |
| Luttenberger et al. | Indoor rock climbing (bouldering) as a new treatment for depression | 2015 | 47 (22 persons in the intervention group, 25 persons in the waitlist group) | Patients with depression | 8 weeks | 1 × 3 h/week | 24 h | Bouldering (wall up to 4 m) | Significantly higher improvement in the BDI-ll Score (Becks depression inventory) in the intervention group compared to the waitlist group |
| Aras and Ewert | The effects of 8 weeks sport rock climbing training on anxiety | 2016 | 19 (9 persons in the intervention group, 10 persons in the control group) | Healthy sedentary adults | 8 weeks | 3 × 1 h/week | 24 h | Sport climbing (wall up to 12 m) | Increased self-confidence and decreased somatic and cognitive anxiety in the intervention group |
| Schram Christensen et al. | To be active through indoor-climbing: an exploratory feasibility study in a group of children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children | 2017 | 17 (11 children with and 6 without cerebral palsy) | 11 to 13 years old children with cerebral palsy (GMFSC 1 and 2) | 3 weeks | 3 × 2.5 h/week | 22.5 h | Sport climbing (wall up to 12 m) and bouldering | The children with cerebral palsy climbed a larger proportion of the route, children without cerebral palsy climbed faster. Improvement in the sit-to-stand test in children with cerebral palsy |