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.

Ruoxi Wang,Da Feng,Tailai Wu,Zhanchun Feng,Zhuo Chen,Yongjie Zhou,Ian Shaw,Shangfeng Tang,Hongxun Song,Xiang Wu,Ghose Bishwajit,Qian Fu,Kelly Naugle

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221430

Abstract

BackgroundThe 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.MethodsUsing 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.ResultsSpending 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.ConclusionsThe 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.

Highlights

Depression, one type of non-communicable diseases, has triggered great public health concerns in both developed and developing countries due to its high prevalence and heavy burden of diseases [1]: it is one of the most prevalent disorders [2], affects nearly 350 million people, and accounts for 12.7% of all-cause mortality around the globe [3]
Spending 1–2 days/week (OR = 0.58, 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CIs): 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
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Summary

Introduction

Depression, one type of non-communicable diseases, has triggered great public health concerns in both developed and developing countries due to its high prevalence and heavy burden of diseases [1]: it is one of the most prevalent disorders [2], affects nearly 350 million people, and accounts for 12.7% of all-cause mortality around the globe [3] It leads to other health problems such as type 2 diabetes [4], cardiovascular diseases [5], and suicide [6]. Considering both the pattern that depressive symptomology increases as one ages [9, 10] and the current trend of population ageing in China [11], the threat will possibly be enlarged. 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

Results

Conclusion