Table 3.

Intervention characteristics of the studies included.

References	Exercise Program	Control Condition	Compliance with the Intervention Program	Length of Intervention	Weekly Frequency	Length of Sessions	Intensity	Other Treatments	Executive Function Tasks
Hoffman et al., 2008 [38]	Supervised exercise: (1) 10 min walking warm-up exercise, (2) 30 min walking or jogging on a treadmill at an intensity that would maintain their heart rate within the assigned training range, (3) 5 min cool-down exercises. Home-based exercise: Participants in a home-based exercise program received the same exercise prescription. Telephone follow-up and follow-up through scheduled visits during the intervention period.	Placebo pill	68% of home exercisers completed at least 75% of the 48 scheduled sessions compared with 67% of supervised exercisers. Treatment completers attended an average of 38.8 exercise sessions.	16 weeks	3/week	45 min	70%–85% of HRR.	CG: for insomnia, use of a hypnotic (zolpidem) no more than four doses during treatment.	Animal naming, COWAT, digit symbol subtest (WAIS-R), digits backward, Ruff 2 & 7 test, Stroop color and word test, TMT B-A.
Krogh et al., 2009 [36]	Strength group: Circuit-training program with six exercises on machines involving large muscle groups: leg extension, leg press, total abdominal, lower back, chest press, and vertical traction. As a supplement to this, free weights and sandbags were used for exercising the calf muscles, the arm abductors, the triceps muscles, and the hip abductors. Aerobic group: 10 different aerobic exercises using large muscle groups. Machines were used for cycling, running, stepping, abdominal exercises, and rowing. Additional exercises were sliding movements on small carpets, trampoline, step bench, jump rope, and Ski Fitter.	Relaxation training	The mean participation was strength group: 18.0 (56.2%), aerobic group: 16.2 (50.6%), and control group: 10.5 (32.8%) sessions of the 32 sessions.	4 months	2/week	90 min	Strength group: 50%–75% of RM. Aerobic group: 70%–89% of HRmax. Relaxation group: <12 on the Borg scale.	Antidepressant medication EG1: 39, EG2: 37, CG: 38; psychotherapy EG1: 24, EG2: 28, CG: 25	Digit span test, subtracting serial sevens, digit symbol test, verbal fluency S and animals, TMT—Part B.
Krogh et al., 2012 [34]	Aerobic training: (1) 10 min general low-intensity warm-up, (2) 30 min aerobic exercise on a stationary cycle ergometer, (3) 5 min low-intensity cool-down period.	Stretching exercises	Average attendance: 36%. Mean attendance EG: 13.5 sessions (range 0–34 and SD 9.4), CG: 12.5 sessions (range 0–34 and SD 9.3) of a planned total of 36 sessions.	3 months	3/week	45 min	65%–80% of HRmax.	Antidepressant medication EG: 4, CG: 8	Digits backward, subtracting serial sevens, Stroop test, TMT—Part B, digit symbol subtest (WAIS-R), verbal fluency S and animals.
Olson et al., 2017 [33]	45 min of continuous steady-state exercise performed on a treadmill or cycle ergometer at a prescribed moderate intensity.	Stretching exercises	75% retention rate.	8 weeks	3/week	30–45 min	40%–65% of HRR.	Antidepressant medication (∼14%).	Modified flanker task.
Zhang and Chen, 2019 [37]	Participants were asked to jog 3 km each time.	Routine treatment (drug therapy)	Four cases were lost in the experimental group.	8 weeks	3/week	Not defined	Target rate: 170-age. If the patient had high blood pressure, diabetes or other physical body disease, a heart rate of 110 bpm was indicated.	Routine treatment (drug therapy)	Wechsler Memory Scale Revised in China digit span test (backward), VF test, TMT-B.
Brüchle et al., 2021 [30]	Exercise program: Each session lasted 60 min (without breaks) and focused on one of the three exercise types once a week, namely, coordination, endurance, or strength training. These three exercise sessions were repeated every week. Each session began with a 10 min warm-up which combined physical and cognitive tasks, by coding certain movements (e.g., circling of arms, lifting knees up) with colors (colored cards held up by the instructor). The color-movement associations changed randomly in every session.	Cooperation group games with other participants.	Out of 50 recruited patients, 23 (of 25) in the experimental group and 18 (of 25) in the control group completed the study. Only results of patients who participated in all intervention sessions during the 3-week intervention period are reported.	3 weeks	3/week	60 min	Mean heart rate EG: 126.84 ± 2.83 bpm, CG: 83.02 ± 3.08 bpm.	Medication (e.g., with antidepressants) was not changed during the intervention period. Benzodiazepine <1 mg/day lorazepam equivalent. Excluded: anticonvulsive medication, lithium, and antipsychotics.	Work performance series, N-back verbal test (2-back), TMT-B, response inhibition task, Stroop interference test.
Buschert et al., 2019 [35]	Endurance training: The sessions comprised outdoor walking, Nordic walking, or running in groups of up to five patients. In adverse weather conditions, patients exercised indoors on stationary bicycles.	Occupational therapy in a group	Overall dropout rate: 21%. Number of treatment sessions received in this study EG: mean = 10.00 (SD = 2.95); CG: mean = 14.27 (SD = 8.18).	3–4 weeks	2–3/week	30 min	85% of HRmax, calculated as 200 minus age in years was taken as the upper limit.	Groups did not differ over the course of the entire treatment regarding psychopharmacological treatment (no antidepressive mediation, tri-/tetracylics, selective antidepressants, or changes in the medication).	Digit span backward, computer-assisted cardsorting procedure (Computergestütztes Kartensortierverfahren, CKV).

bpm: beats per minute; CG: control group; COWAT: Controlled Oral Word Association Test; EG: experimental group; HR: heart rate; HRmax: maximum heart rate; HRR: heart rate reserve; RM: repetition maximum; SD: standard deviation; TMT: Trail Making Test; VF: verbal fluency; WAIS-R: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised.