Table 2.
The characteristics of the included non-randomized controlled trials (non-RCT).
| First author, year of publication and country | Intervention | Sample size (F/M) | Age (mean ± SD) | Disease stage | Diagnosis technique | Outcome assessment technique | Intervention details | Control | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abd El-Kader, M. et al., 2014, Saudi Arabia (50) | MICT | 50 (24/26) | I (AE): 50.87 ± 5.93 I (RT): 51.12 ± 5.58 |
– | US | NA | 3 x week, 40 min 5 min warm-up, 30 min treadmill at 60%-80% of HRmax (increased weekly), 5 min cooling down |
40 min, resistance machines, 10 min stretching, 30 min RT at 60 and 80% of their one maximal repetition weight | 12 weeks |
| Haus, M.J. et al., 2013, USA (51) | HIIT | I: 14 (sex distribution not reported) | I: 55.6 ± 2.0 C: 56.0 ± 1.9 |
– | MRS | MRS | 60 min for 7 days, treadmill at 85% of HRmax | – | 7 days |
| Khaoshbaten, M. et al., 2013, Iran (52) | HIIT | I: 45 (16/29) C: 45 (17/28) |
I: 35.6 ± 9.2 I: 39.5 ± 6.9 |
Grade I-III | US | US | 30 min for 3 times x week, at HRmax | Medical therapy, 1000 mg vitC + 400 units vitE | 3 months |
| MacLean, C. et al., 2018, UK (52) | SIT | 1: 2 (2/10) | I: 45 ± 8 | Steatosis to NASH | Histology or US | FIB-4 | 2 times x week (5–10 × 6-s ‘all-out’ cycle sprints) | NA | 6 weeks |
| O’Gorman, P. et al., 2020, Ireland (53) | HIIT | I: 16 (12/4) C: 8 (5/3) |
I: 61 ± 15 C: 58 ± 23 |
Steatosis to fibrotic NASH | Histology | Histology and FibroScan | 2 supervised, 3 unsupervised times x week, 40-75% of HRR | Standard care | 12 weeks |
| Sargeant, J. et al., 2018, Germany (54) | SIT | I: 9 (0/9) | I: 41 ± 8 | IHL % 15.6 ± 8.4 |
H-MRS | H-MRS | 3 x week, 4 intervals of max sprint cycling per session, increasing interval every 2 weeks (total of 90 intervals) | – | 6 weeks |
C, control group; CT, computed tomography; F, female; HIIT, high-intensity interval training; HRmax, maximum heart rate; HIIT, high-intensity interval training; HRR, heart rate reserve; I, intervention group; M, male; MICT, moderate-intensity continuous training; MRS, magnetic resonance spectroscopy; MRS-PDFF, magnetic resonance spectroscopy; NA, not applicable; NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; NASH, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; NA, not available; RT, resistance training; SD, standard deviation; SIT, sprint interval training; US, ultrasonography.