Interrelationship between Physical Activity, Symptomatology of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, and Depression in Elderly People

Abstract

Background: It has been suggested that regular moderate physical activity (PA) promotes resistance to upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). In an older population, this relationship should be examined in a wider concept of multiple factors potentially able to influence infection rate and reported symptomatology. Especially, the impact of depression should be taken into consideration. Objective: To examine the association of URTI with PA and depressive symptoms in the elderly, and whether this relationship persists after controlling for confounders attributable to comorbidities, functional status, and cognitive function. Methods: One hundred and forty-five subjects (80 women and 65 men) between 66 and 79 years of age were randomly chosen from all inhabitants of one district of the city of Lodz (Poland). They participated in baseline and 1-year follow-up examinations and completed the infection questionnaire during the whole year. Log books for daily recording of the URTI symptomatology were used in the prospective design. The PA was assessed by the Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire. Geriatric Depression Scale and other elements of the comprehensive geriatric assessment were also used. Results: In bivariate relationships, the number of episodes per year and the number of days with URTI per year were significantly negatively associated with several baseline and follow-up PA indices and directly related to baseline and follow-up depression scores. In multivariate relationships, after controlling for other elements of the comprehensive geriatric assessment, both PA and depression contributed to URTI symptomatology, while URTI symptoms predicted final PA scores, and changes in PA added to the follow-up depression score. Conclusions: These results indicate that in elderly subjects the symptomatology of URTI is interrelated with their habitual PA and depressive symptomatology. Less active and more depressed subjects develop more URTI symptoms during 1-year follow-up. This URTI symptomatology, together with the baseline PA and the depressive status, contributes to the follow-up PA and depression scores.

Sequence analysis of human rhinovirus aspirated from the nasopharynx of patients with relapsing-remitting MS

“…Seasonal influence on rhinovirus infection was evaluated, incited by a previous analysis reporting a biphasic peak incidence in April-May and September-October [12]. In the present study, the frequency of HRV-PCR positive findings during these 4 months was 21% (8/39 specimens), and during the other months it was 9% (9/97) (P = 0.16).…”

“…URTI was defined as the onset of new symptoms of common cold as described [7,12] and prospectively recorded.…”

Frequent alcohol drinking is associated with lower prevalence of self-reported common cold: a retrospective study

“…In an elderly population aged 66 to 79 years, those with depressive symptoms had higher incidence of common cold during a 1-year follow-up period [21]. In addition, previous studies showed that psychological stress was related with the risk of common cold [22].…”

“…Logistic regression models were also used to analyze the association between the amount and frequency of alcohol intake and the retrospective prevalence of common cold. The odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted with the following potential confounding factors: age, education, occupation, smoking status [19], BMI, PA [20], depressive symptoms [21,22], sleep duration [23], MetS, calorie intake, vitamin C intake [24], and zinc intake [25]. For all statistical analyses, the level of significance was determined at P < 0.05.…”

Moderate Exercise Improves Immunity and Decreases Illness Rates

“…11 In a group of 145 elderly people, URI symptomatology during a 1-year period was reduced among those engaging in higher compared with lower amounts of moderate physical activity. 12 During a 1-year study of 142 men aged 33 to 90, the odds of having at least 15 days with URI was 64% lower among those with higher physical activity patterns. 13 In Project PRIME, a randomized clinical trial that investigated interventions to increase physical activity, the odds ratio for reporting URI symptoms was 0.50 (95% confidence interval = 0.28 to 0.91) among participants who engaged in a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate and vigorous activity compared with less active participants.…”