OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to investigate the role of appropriate physical training in relieving clinical symptoms of pediatric asthma. METHOD(S): Databases of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched using keywords and citation information for collecting potential studies. Reviews were also checked for retrieving some relevant data (studies from January 1st, 1990, to June 30th, 2017, with no language restriction). Two reviewers independently selected randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the effects of physical training on pediatric asthma, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and assessed the quality of papers by using Cochrane's risk of bias assessment tool. The main outcome measures consisted of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), incidence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), incidence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), and endurance. RevMan 5.2 software was applied for meta-analysis with either the fixed effects model or random effects model. Categorical data were presented as risk ratios (RRs) while the measurement data were presented as standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULT(S): A total of nine RCTs were included in the present study, involving 881 cases of pediatric asthma. Results of the meta-analysis showed that patients who received appropriate physical training experienced better improvements in the following indices than those who didn't: PEF (pooled SMD 1.50, 95% CI 0.90 to 2.10, p < 0.00001), incidence of BHR (pooled RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.84, p = 0.003), incidence of EIB (pooled RR 0.38, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.68, p = 0.001), and endurance (pooled SMD 7.86, 95% CI 7.29 to 8.43, p < 0.0001). However, the value of FEV1 in patients who received physical training was lower than that in the control group: FEV1 (pooled SMD -0.31, 95% CI -0.53 to -0.09, p = 0.007). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in FVC (pooled SMD 0.44, 95% CI -0.61 to -0.09, p = 0.41). CONCLUSION(S): Appropriate physical training can help to relieve asthma symptoms, decrease incidence of BHR and EIB, and increase endurance but it cannot help in improving FEV1 in asthmatic children.

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