The impact of an add-on video assisted structured aerobic exercise module on mood and somatic symptoms among women with depressive disorders: Study from a tertiary care centre in India.

Abstract

The evidence in favor of exercise as a treatment for depression is compelling, but what kind of exercise, how much, how often, and at what intensity is necessary to make a significant difference. There is serious dearth of such data from India, in particular. We examined the impact of low-moderate intensity aerobic exercises on mood and somatic symptoms among women with depressive disorders. A pre test- post test control group design was adopted with a sample size of 40 (20 subjects randomized to both experimental and control group) women inpatients diagnosed with depressive disorder at a tertiary care centre, Bengaluru, India. After pre-test, experimental group received 10 sessions of add-on intervention (video assisted structured aerobic exercise module) and the control group received treatment as usual. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAMS) and Depression Somatic Symptom scale (DSSS) were used as clinical outcome measures. The estimated mean change within the group in HDRS was 4.30 (95% CI 3.15 to 5.44; p<0.001) in the experimental group as compared to 2.70 (95% CI 1.50 to 3.89; p<0.001) in control group. RMANOVA (F=4.08) revealed a significant reduction in mean mood score in HDRS in the experimental group as compared to the control group at p<0.05. There was no statistically significant reduction in mean somatic symptom score between the groups (p=0.142). The study findings support that add-on aerobic exercise is associated with significantly greater improvements in mood symptoms of women with depressive disorders, when performed in a structured and supervised setting.