Background
Although many studies support an inverse association between physical activity (PA)
and depressive symptoms, prospective relationships between these variables have been
confounded by pre-existing psychological and physical health problems.
Methods
This study examined the dose–response relationships between self-reported PA and depressive
symptoms, using cross-sectional and prospective data from a population-based cohort
of middle-aged women who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s
Health (ALSWH) between 1996 and 2001. Participants completed three mailed surveys
(S1, 1996; S2, 1998; S3, 2001), which included questions about time spent in walking,
moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA, and measures of psychological health (Center
for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale [CESD-10], and Mental health [MH] subscale
of the Short Form 36 survey). Relationships between previous (S1, S2), current (S3),
and habitual (S1, S2, S3) PA and “depressive symptoms” were examined, adjusting for
sociodemographic and health-related variables (n=9207).
Results
Mean CESD-10 scores decreased, and MH scores increased with increasing levels of previous,
current, and habitual activity. Odds ratios for CESD-10 scores ≥10 or MH scores ≤52
at S3 were 30% to 40% lower among women who reported the equivalent of ≥60 minutes
of moderate-intensity PA per week, compared with those who reported less PA than this.
Women who were in the lowest PA category at S1, but who subsequently reported ≥240
metabolic equivalent minutes (MET.mins) per week had lower odds of CESD-10 scores
of ≥10 or MH scores ≤52 at S3 than those who remained in the very low PA category.
Conclusions
These data suggest that there is a clear relationship between increasing PA and decreasing
depressive symptoms in middle-aged women, independent of pre-existing physical and
psychological health.
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© 2005 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
