Abstract
Unipolar depression is associated with insomnia and autonomic arousal. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of a single bout of aerobic exercise on nocturnal heart rate variability and pre-sleep arousal in patients with depression. This study was designed as a two-arm, parallel-group, randomized, outcome assessor-blinded, controlled, superiority trial. Patients with a primary diagnosis of unipolar depression aged 18–65 years were included. The intervention consisted of a single 30 min moderate-intensity aerobic exercise bout. The control group sat and read for 30 min. The primary outcome of interest was RMSSD during the sleep period assessed with polysomnography. Secondary outcomes were additional heart rate variability outcomes during the sleep and pre-sleep period as well as subjective pre-sleep arousal. A total of 92 patients were randomized to either the exercise (N = 46) or the control (N = 46) group. Intent-to-treat analysis ANCOVA of follow-up sleep period RMSSD, adjusted for baseline levels and minimization factors, did not detect a significant effect of the allocation (β = 0.12, p = 0.94). There was no evidence for significant differences between both groups in any other heart rate variability measure nor in measures of cognitive or somatic pre-sleep arousal. As this is the first trial of its kind in this population, the findings need to be confirmed in further studies. Patients with depression should be encouraged to exercise regularly in order to profit from the known benefits on sleep and depressive symptoms, which are supported by extensive literature.
Highlights
The primary goal of this trial was to quantify the effect of a single bout of 30 min moderate aerobic exercise on arousal measured by Heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep in patients with depression
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first trial to investigate the effects of a single bout of aerobic exercise on arousal measured by HRV during sleep in patients with depression
Our results are in line with the findings presented above, i.e., there is no evidence that a single moderate aerobic exercise session of 30 min performed multiple hours before bedtime is a strong enough stimulus to alter HRV in the subsequent night
Summary
Insomnia and unipolar depression are bidirectional risk factors for one another [1,2,3,4]. Up to 90% of patients with unipolar depression report symptoms of insomnia [5,6,7,8]. Insomnia has detrimental effects on disease trajectory [9,10,11,12,13]. Insomnia is the most frequent residual symptom after remission [5,14], which in turn increases the risk of relapse [15,16]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
