Assessing Psychomotor Disturbances among Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Psychomotor disturbances (PmD) emerge as common symptoms in many psychiatric diseases. However, currently it lacks a systematic description of PmD among different mental disorders, largely due to the heterogeneity of PmD manifestations. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and SPORTDiscus were searched through June 24, 2024. Eligible studies included adults with mental disorders, assessing motor or cognitive function using objective tools. A total of 30 cross-sectional studies with 1,828 participants were included. This review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024547952) and followed PRISMA guidelines. Results: Our results suggest that patients with various mental disorders may commonly exhibit psychomotor retardation (PmR), with subgroup analyses showing effect sizes ranging from −0.32 to −2.31 across five mental disorder types. Moreover, there is preliminary evidence that patients exhibiting PmR may also experience cognitive impairments compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: In sum, our results indicated that PmD may involve in clinical manifestations of different mental disorders.