Future ACS-cognition research should use standardized or objective ACS measures, characterize ACS dose, and control key confounders¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 6 claims (6 for) · 1 study (1 quant-synthesis), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review's forward-looking recommendations for research design. It calls for studies "using a standardized self-reports or objective measure of ACS" (e.g., accelerometry, wearable movement tracking, or positioning systems), accurate assessment of ACS characteristics (energy expenditure demands, duration and distance), control of mediators and confounders such as age, sex, total PA, SES, weight status and fitness, and separate analysis of walking, cycling, and other commuting means. These recommendations follow directly from the methodological weaknesses the review identified in the included studies.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Future studies must include potential confounders such as age, sex, total PA, SES, or weight status and fitness in their analyses

Constraints¶

• The review only included cross-sectional designs or baseline measurements of cohort studies; no intervention studies on ACS and cognition existed to its knowledge
• Publication bias cannot be ruled out; the search was limited to English or Spanish published studies

Target Learners¶

• children and adolescents aged 4 to 18 years

Target Learning Goals¶

• cognitive performance
• academic achievement

Claims¶

• Active commuting to and from school is not significantly associated with cognitive performance in children and adolescents (pooled ES = −0.02) [+W]
• Active commuting to and from school is not significantly associated with language-related skills (pooled ES = −0.37, considerable heterogeneity) [+W]
• Active commuting to and from school is not significantly associated with mathematics-related skills (pooled ES = −0.33, considerable heterogeneity) [+W]
• Within included studies, ACS was positively associated with cognitive performance and academic achievement in adolescent girls but not adolescent boys [+W]
• Subgroup analyses by mode of ACS, age, and sex show no significant differences in pooled effect sizes for academic outcomes [+W]
• Cycling, but not walking, to and from school was positively associated with mathematics performance in the one study analyzing modes separately [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Future ACS research should use longitudinal designs and objective, validated measures of active commuting
• Future research on professional reasoning in occupational therapy should target information processing, reasoning modalities, methodological quality assessment, and non-English-speaking contexts

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Ruiz-Hermosa A., Álvarez-Bueno C., Cavero-Redondo I., Martínez-Vizcaíno V., Redondo-Tébar A., Sánchez-López M. (2019). Active Commuting to and from School, Cognitive Performance, and Academic Achievement in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101839