More exercise for elderly can fend off depression — report
The report, entitled ‘Does pain mediate or moderate the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in older people?’ analysed data from three sources: The Healthy Ageing Research Project, the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and the Northern Ireland Health Survey 2010/11.
It sought to investigate whether pain mediates or moderates the association between physical activity and depression/psychological distress in Irish adults aged 50 years or more.
The report said international research has shown that “physical activity has been shown to be an effective, yet under-utilised, treatment for depression” among the elderly.
The study discovered that:
nOverall, across the three studies, older adults living in the Republic participated in higher levels of regular physical activity and also reported lower levels of recent pain compared to their counterparts in the North;
nNo mediating or moderating effects of pain were found in the association between physical activity and depression;
nHigher levels of physical activity were found to be independently associated with lower depression while higher levels of pain significantly increased the likelihood of depression;
nThe absence of anysynergistic effect between physical activity and pain suggests that clinicians and health service providers should continue to promote physical activity as a treatment for depression, irrespective of the pain levels of their patients.
The research was funded by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland. Report co-author Frank Doyle said: “While it has been known for some time that physical activity protects against depressive symptoms, and that pain increases depressive symptoms, it was unknown how these variables interacted with each other.
“We found that pain did not mediate the protective association between physical activity and depression. The findings suggest that clinicians should consider recommending increased physical activity in older people, irrespective of pain levels.”
International research has suggested that by 2020, depression could be the second leading cause of “disease burden” worldwide and that it could disproportionately affect older adults.
Older adults are recommended to engage in 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity at least five days a week but, according to the report, “evidence suggests that the proportions of older adults meeting these minimum levels of physical activity are negligible”.
Read the full report here.
