Abstract
Introduction: Depression is a challenge for public health policies, as it is the number one leading cause of disability in the world. In order to combat and prevent it, different social and health interventions are being developed to promote health through physical activity. Objective: Analyze and describe the user profile of the patients with depression from the Exercise Looks After You program, which is a physical activity program that works on improving public health and has an essential role preventing chronic diseases and improving the quality of life of the elderly in Extremadura. Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants: total sample of 1972 users (96.4% women, 3.6% men), of whom 724 (94.6% women, 5.4% men) suffer from depression. Results: It was observed that the dominant user profile of the patients with depression within the program is female, 71 years old, physically active, overweight, married, with low educational level, non-smoker, no alcohol consumption and below average physical fitness and health-related quality of life, which translates into a high incidence of primary care, nursing and prescription visits. Conclusions: This study presents the user profile of depressive versus non-depressive participants of the Exercise Looks After You physical activity program. This data could be meaningful in order to improve and optimize public health programs and resources.
Highlights
Depression is a challenge for public health policies, as it is the number one leading cause of disability in the world
Depression is a mental disorder that incapacitates millions of people worldwide [1,2]. It is characterized by persistent apathy and continuous sadness, which alters the quality of sleep and appetite of the patients, causing fatigue, lack of concentration and low selfesteem [3], reducing psychic functions and decreasing the quality of life of people who suffer from it [4,5]
Considering the effectiveness of these programs, Exercise Looks After You (ELAY, 2006), a health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) public walk-based health program with the purpose of promoting physical activity (PA)
Summary
Depression is a mental disorder that incapacitates millions of people worldwide [1,2]. Considering the effectiveness of these programs, Exercise Looks After You (ELAY, 2006), a HEPA public walk-based health program with the purpose of promoting PA and healthy lifestyles in older-age individuals, was created in Extremadura, Spain. This program is an example of the comprehensive and integrated approach to health when it is well executed [43]). Given the importance of the use of this service in public health, it is necessary to analyze the profile of the ELAY user with depression, in order to improve the quality of the program and to develop effective strategies to attract older people with depression with the aim of improving health and community policies in Extremadura
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