From exercise dose to social dose: a narrative review of the components, mechanisms, and design principles of group-based physical activity interventions to reduce loneliness.

To manage various loneliness scales in a narrative review while preserving comparability without conducting a meta-analysis, we suggest three steps: Step 1: Categorize the loneliness outcome of each study as either overall or emotional/social (if DJGLS is used) and as direct or indirect wording ( Russell, 1996 ); Step 2: Standardize the analysis by indicating the direction of change, assessing if the change is clinically or practically significant as defined by the authors, and determining if the effects last at follow-up (≥3 months); Step 3: Include a sensitivity narrative highlighting that ultra-short measures (1–3 items) have less detail for testing mechanisms and are more prone to wording effects, according to national measurement guidance ( Office for National Statistics, 2018 ).

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