Researchers at the University of Limerick and Trinity College Dublin have discovered that engaging in moderate-intensity physical activities such as brisk walking for just 20 minutes a day, five days a week, can significantly reduce the risk of depressive symptoms and major depression.
The findings of the study have been published in the JAMA Network Open journal.
Depression, increasingly common among older adults, is a significant risk factor for major chronic conditions, including cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, and is linked to increased risk of death and suicide.
The economic burden of depression is also massive, estimated at over $210.5 billion in the United States alone.
As such, identifying affordable, accessible health and lifestyle solutions to mitigate depression risk is crucial.
For the study, the researchers utilized a decade’s worth of data from the Irish Longitudinal Study On Aging, which included information on depression, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and other health-related variables.
The aim was to identify the lowest dose of MVPA linked with protection against Major Depression and depressive symptoms, and to determine how this might vary among adults with disease.
Key findings from the study include:
Engaging in 20 minutes a day of MVPA for five days a week was associated with a 16% lower rate of depressive symptoms and 43% lower odds of Major Depression.
There was a dose-response effect, where more MVPA was linked with greater protection for Depression.
30 minutes a day of MVPA corresponded with a 7% lower risk of depressive symptoms and 44% lower odds of Major Depression.
60 minutes a day of MVPA was associated with a 16% lower risk of depressive symptoms and 41% lower odds of Major Depression.
120 minutes a day of MVPA was associated with a 23% lower risk of depressive symptoms and 49% lower odds of Major Depression.
These findings remained significant after controlling for factors like biological sex, education, age, smoking and alcohol, obesity, antidepressant use, and time, and were largely the same for older adults with and without chronic illness.
Dr. Eamon Laird, the study’s lead author, stated that these findings are particularly relevant given the increasing prevalence of depression among older adults.
He recommends building physical activity into daily routines with enjoyable hobbies or activities and incorporating social interaction as part of these activities for additional mental health benefits.
This study’s principal investigator, Dr. Matthew Herring, emphasized that while the findings suggest that physical activity below the World Health Organization’s recommended levels for overall health can offer significant antidepressant benefits, higher levels of physical activity provide even stronger protection against depression.
If you care about depression, please read studies about a core feature of depression, and common depression drugs linked to early death risk.
For more information about depression, please see recent studies that doing this can reduce depression relapse, and results showing this therapy can effectively treat pain, depression and anxiety.
The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
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