Exploring the gut-exercise link: A systematic review of gastrointestinal disorders in physical activity

Table 7 Summary of studies on physical activity and diverticular disease

Ref.	Type of article	Age of patients	Summary of study characteristics	Outcome
Strate et al[159]	Prospective cohort study	40-75 years (males)	Analyzed 47228 men over 18 years in the health professionals follow-up study. Assessed the relationship between physical activity (MET-h/week) and diverticulitis or diverticular bleeding	Vigorous physical activity reduced risk of diverticulitis (RR = 0.66) and diverticular bleeding (RR = 0.61). Non-vigorous activity had no effect
Peery et al[160]	Cross-sectional study	Not specified	Analyzed 539 individuals with diverticulosis and 1569 controls using colonoscopy data. Investigated associations between constipation, dietary fiber, and diverticulosis	Constipation and low dietary fiber intake were not associated with increased risk of diverticulosis
Williams[164]	Prospective cohort study	≥ 50 years (men/women)	Followed 9072 men and 1664 women from the national runners’ health study for 7.7 years. Assessed the relationship between running distance, cardiorespiratory fitness, and diverticular disease	Vigorous physical activity (e.g., running > 8 km/day) reduced risk of diverticular disease by 48%. Better 10-kilometer performance also reduced risk by 68%

MET-h: Metabolic equivalent of task hours; RR: Risk ratio.