Intensity, frequency, duration, and volume of physical activity and its association with risk of depression in middle- and older-aged Chinese: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, 2015

Abstract

Background The general benefit of physical activity (PA) to one’s mental health has been widely acknowledged. Nevertheless, the specific type and amount of PA that associates with lower risk of depression in China awaits further investigation. The present study was conducted on middle- and older-aged Chinese population with two objectives: 1) to understand the patterns of PA; 2) to measure the associations between depression and PA at different levels from various aspects. Methods Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2015), we selected 9118 community residents aged 45 years and older. Depressive symptoms were measured by 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies (CES-D 10). Multivariate logistic regression model was performed to examine the association between risk of depression and PA from four aspects including intensity, frequency, duration, and volume. Results Spending 1–2 days/week (OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.91), less than 30 minutes each time (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.42, 1.03) or 150–299 min/week (OR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.87) on Moderate Physical Activity (MPA) was associated with lower odds of depression in women. Spending 3–5 days/week (OR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.29, 3.05) or 6–7 days/week (OR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.07, 2.11), 4 hours and longer each time (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.18, 2.32), 300 min/week or longer (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.24) on Vigorous Physical Activity (VPA) in total, or 2250 Metabolic Equivalent of Task (OR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.26, 2.38) on Moderate-to-Vigorous PA was associated with higher risk of depression in men. Conclusions The association between depression and PA depended largely on intensity and gender. Lower frequency, shorter duration, and moderate amount of MPA was associated with lower risk of depression in women. Risk of depression was higher in men who spent higher frequency, longer duration, and overlong time on VPA.

Psychological impact of sociodemographic factors and medical conditions in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico

“…Previous evidence indicates that there is comorbidity between depression and some chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular problems (Chireh et al, 2019;Naveen et al, 2020;Rotella & Mannucci, 2013;Seldenrijk et al, 2015;Vancampfort et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2019), which is consistent with the findings found in the present investigation, since, when analyzing the effect that the type of condition had on depressive symptoms, the results indicated that older adults (specifically women) with both diabetes and hypertension were the ones who presented the most depressive symptoms. There are studies (Boulé et al, 2005;Musen et al, 2008) suggesting a relationship between diabetes and depressive symptoms, this due to the fact that high glucose levels increase the levels of brain neurotransmitters associated with an elevated risk of depressive symptoms.…”

“…With reference to the effect of sex, age, and medical condition (hypertension and/or diabetes) on the psychological factors evaluated in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of the present study showed that it is women who present the highest depression symptoms, and anxiety and who perceive a greater impact due to the situation of the pandemic in contrast to men, which agrees with previous literature (Naveen et al, 2020;World Health Organization, 2017;Reddy et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2019) In relation to how much depression like anxiety, are ailments that occur more frequently in women than in men. Likewise, previous studies indicate that age is also a factor that may increase the probability of presenting depressive symptoms, which is consistent with the findings of the present study, where older women (80 years or older) were those who presented higher scores.…”

“…In both conditions, a higher prevalence is found in women compared to men (World Health Organization, 2017). In addition to the data provided by the WHO (2017), there are several studies (Naveen, Goel, Dwivedi, & Hassan, 2020;Reddy et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2019) that report that there is a significant number of older adults who have symptoms of depression, specifically in older adults, and that women are those who have a greater propensity to present this problem.…”

“…Recent studies (Chireh, Li, & D'Arcy, 2019;Naveen et al, 2020;Rotella & Mannucci, 2013;Seldenrijk et al, 2015;Vancampfort et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2019) provide evidence of comorbidity between depression and some health problems such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular problems. In this regard, Boulé et al (2005) and Musen et al (2008) explain that high glucose levels can increase the levels of brain neurotransmitters associated with an elevated risk of depressive symptoms.…”

Association between social participation and cognitive function among middle- and old-aged Chinese: A fixed-effects analysis

“…Prior findings regarding the gender-disparity in the relationship between SP and mental health are competing, as some reporting favourable effects only in women [ 40 ] or only in men [ 41 ], whereas some observed no gender differences [ 42 ]. The present study observed similar patterns in gender subgroups, and thus suggested that encouraging sufficient SP may be equally beneficial to men and women in China’s context.…”