Deborah Brauser
November 07, 2013
Even low levels of physical activity may reduce the risk of developing depression in individuals of all ages, new research suggests.
In 25 of 30 large studies examined in the systematic review, which included participants between the ages of 11 and 100 years, a "negative risk" was found between baseline physical activity (PA) and the future development of depression.
In addition, this inverse association was found in all levels of PA ― including less than 2.5 hours of walking per week.
"It was a little surprising that 25 of the studies found this protective effect, and that's really promising," lead author George Mammen, PhD candidate from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education Department at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, told Medscape Medical News.
"We also did quality assessments on each study, and the majority were of high methodologic quality, which adds weight to the findings," said Mammen.
He noted that the take-home message is that being active is important for more than just physical health.
"From a population health perspective, promoting PA may serve as a valuable mental health…strategy in reducing the risk of developing depression," write the investigators.
The study was published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Prevention Strategy Needed
Previous studies have shown a link between exercise and decreasing symptoms in patients with depression, including several reported by Medscape Medical News.
"However, with the high prevalence of depression worldwide and its burden on well-being and the healthcare system, intuitively, it would make more sense…to shift focus toward preventing the onset of depression," the investigators write.
After searching 6 of the top databases, including MEDLINE and PubMed, the researchers found 6263 worldwide citations of PA and depression. For this analysis, they selected 30 English-language studies that were published between January 1976 and December 2012."We need a prevention strategy now more than ever. Our health system is taxed. We need to…look for ways to fend off depression from the start," added Mammen in a release.
All were prospective, longitudinal, and "examined relationships between PA and depression over at least two time intervals." They had follow-up periods ranging from 1 to 27 years.
Results showed that 25 of the studies revealed a significant inverse effect between any PA reported at baseline and subsequent depression development.
Interestingly, 4 of these studies showed that women who reported baseline PA were less likely than men to develop depression.
"These studies postulate that psychological factors may explain these findings because women may benefit more from the social aspects of PA than men," note the investigators.
Of the 5 studies that did not find a significant association between PA and depression, "only 1 was considered to be of high quality," and 2 focused only on older adults.
Get Moving
Using data from the 7 studies that measured amounts of weekly PA participation, the researchers found that exercising more than 150 minutes per week was associated with a 19% to 27% decreased risk of developing depression.
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