Watching sports and depressive symptoms among older adults: a cross-sectional study from the JAGES 2019 survey

Abstract

The current study investigated the relationship between the frequency of watching sports and depressive symptoms among older adults. This study used cross-sectional data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a nationwide mail survey of 21,317 older adults. Depressive symptoms were defined as a Geriatric Depression Scale score of ≥ 5. Participants were queried regarding the average frequency at which they watched sports on-site and via TV/Internet over the past year. Among the 21,317 participants, 4559 (21.4%) had depressive symptoms, while 4808 (22.6%) and 16,576 (77.8%) watched sports on-site and via TV/Internet at least once a year, respectively. Older adults who watched sports on-site a few times/year (prevalence ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.65–0.74) or 1–3 times/month (0.66, 0.53–0.82) were less likely to have depressive symptoms compared to non-spectators after adjusting for frequency of playing sports, exercise activities, and other potential confounders. Meanwhile, a dose–response relationship was confirmed for watching via TV/Internet (prevalence ratio of 0.86, 0.79, and 0.71 for a few times/year, 1–3 times/month, and ≥ 1 time/week, respectively). This study suggested that watching sports on-site or via TV/Internet, regardless of whether they regularly engage in sports, may reduce the risk of depressive symptoms among older adults.

Association of frailty with influenza and hospitalization due to influenza among independent older adults: a longitudinal study of Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES)

“…Self-administered questionnaires used for the follow-up survey were subsequently mailed to a total of 345,356 community-dwelling individuals in 60 municipalities and the data was obtained from self-reported questionnaires among 240,889 individuals (69.8%) responded to our mail. [ 19 ] After excluding data from older adults who had been certified as needed the long- term care at the survey, those who aged < 65 years, no ID number, and those who did not answer any question at all, the number of participants in the “JAGES2019” data attributed to 128,914. After excluding data from older adults who we could not merge individual data between in the baseline and follow-up surveys tab with the identification number, the number of participants in the “JAGES 2016–2019” panel data attributed to 77,103.…”

Immediate Effects of Mobile Phone App for Depressed Mood in Young Adults with Subthreshold Depression: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

“…However, some studies suggest that watching sports may improve viewers' moods. 49,50 In addition, the SPSRS application has a filtering function that prevents participants from viewing videos that may be inappropriate for them (eg, violent videos). 39 Therefore, the videos of basketball players used in this study were unlikely to disturb participants and were considered appropriate.…”