Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis

Chilibeck PD, Kaviani M, Candow DG, Zello GA · Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine

Creatine added ~1.37 kg lean tissue mass (95% CI 0.97-1.76) and modestly greater upper- and lower-body strength (leg-press SMD 0.24, P=0.01) vs training alone — the indirect 'stronger muscle protects the joint' foundation.

Population

Older adults (mean age 57-70) in resistance-training RCTs, 7-52 weeks

Intervention

Creatine during resistance training (2-3 sessions/week)

Comparator

Placebo during identical training

Limitations

The endpoints are muscle, not joint. Fifteen of the 22 trials were in healthy older adults; the rest covered frailty, heart disease, Parkinson's, COPD, type 2 diabetes and one trial in osteoarthritis, and excluding every chronic-condition trial left the lean-mass gain at 1.26 kg. Ten of the 22 trials individually found nothing.