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Association of domain-specific physical activity with depressive symptoms: A population-based study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2022

Fan He
Affiliation:
Human Phenome Institute, Zhangjiang Fudan International Innovation Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Yi Li
Affiliation:
Human Phenome Institute, Zhangjiang Fudan International Innovation Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Zixin Hu*
Affiliation:
Human Phenome Institute, Zhangjiang Fudan International Innovation Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai, China Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Incubation Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Hui Zhang*
Affiliation:
Human Phenome Institute, Zhangjiang Fudan International Innovation Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai, China National Clinical Research Centre for Ageing and Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
*
*Authors for correspondence: Hui Zhang and Zixin Hu E-mails: zhanghui2939@163.com; huzixin@fudan.edu.cn
*Authors for correspondence: Hui Zhang and Zixin Hu E-mails: zhanghui2939@163.com; huzixin@fudan.edu.cn

Abstract

Background

It remains unclear whether all physical activity (PA) domains (e.g., occupation-related PA [OPA], transportation-related PA [TPA], and leisure-time PA [LTPA]) have equivalent beneficial relationships. We aimed to investigate the associations of OPA, TPA, and LTPA with depressive symptoms in adults.

Methods

We included and analyzed 31,221 participants (aged ≥18 years) from the cross-sectional 2007–2018 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The PA domains were assessed by a self-report questionnaire and categorized based on the PA guidelines. Depressive symptoms were measured by the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire.

Results

Participants achieving PA guidelines (≥150 min/week) were 26% (odds ratio [OR] 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.68–0.80) and 43% (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.51–0.62) less likely to have depressive symptoms depending on total PA and LTPA, respectively, while OPA or TPA did not demonstrate lower risks of depressive symptoms. LTPA at levels of 1–149, 150–299, and ≥300 min/week was associated with 31% (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.60–0.78), 43% (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.49–0.67), and 51% (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.43–0.55) lower odds of depressive symptoms, respectively.

Conclusion

LTPA, but not OPA or TPA, was associated with a lower risk of depressive symptoms at any amount, suggesting that significant mental health would benefit from increased PA, even at levels below the recommendation.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
Figure 0

Figure 1. Flow diagram of the included survey participants.

Figure 1

Table 1. Characteristics of study population.

Figure 2

Table 2. Multivariable OR for depression based on the meeting PA guideline.

Figure 3

Figure 2. Association of total PA with LTPA based on meeting PA guidelines with risk of depression in subgroups. PA, physical activity; LTPA, leisure-time physical activity; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval. All ORs were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, race, education level, marital status, smoking status, poverty ratio, years of NHANES, stroke, diabetes, arthritis pulmonary disease, hypertension, heart disease, cancers, and polypharmacy. P-int represents the heterogeneity between subgroups based on the meta-regression analysis.

Figure 4

Figure 3. Multivariable OR for depression based on the amount of PA. PA, physical activity; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval. All ORs were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, race, education level, marital status, smoking status, poverty ratio, years of NHANES, stroke, diabetes, arthritis pulmonary disease, hypertension, heart disease, cancers, and polypharmacy.

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