Abstract
While the negative association between physical activity and depression has been well established, it is unclear what precise characteristics of physical activity patterns explain this association. Complexity measures may identify previously unexplored aspects of objectively measured activity patterns, such as the extent to which individuals show repetitive periods of physical activity and the diversity in durations of such repetitive activity patterns. We compared the complexity levels of actigraphy data gathered over 4 weeks (sim 40000 data points each) for every individual, from non-depressed (n=25) and depressed (n=21) groups using recurrence plots. Significantly lower levels of complexity were detected in the actigraphy data from the depressed group as compared to non-depressed controls, both in terms of lower mean durations of periods of recurrent physical activity and less diversity in the duration of these periods. Further, diagnosis of depression was not significantly associated with mean activity levels or measures of circadian rhythm stability, and predicted depression status better than these.
Highlights
While the negative association between physical activity and depression has been well established, it is unclear what precise characteristics of physical activity patterns explain this association
When these activities are repeated in time, they constitute a diversity of recurrent physical activity patterns, which add to the complexity of the signal
We present the results of the between-group analysis comparing the recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) measures of the depressed group with the non-depressed group
Summary
While the negative association between physical activity and depression has been well established, it is unclear what precise characteristics of physical activity patterns explain this association. Lower levels of complexity were detected in the actigraphy data from the depressed group as compared to non-depressed controls, both in terms of lower mean durations of periods of recurrent physical activity and less diversity in the duration of these periods. Group-level studies on levels of physical activity have shown an inverse association between physical activity and depressive s ymptoms[4,5,6]. Differing durations of activities like biking, swimming or running would each cause a particular pattern of activity When these activities are repeated in time, they constitute a diversity of recurrent physical activity patterns, which add to the complexity of the signal. Complexity measures would provide an objective way to measure to what extent these different types of physical activity (noise versus repeating activity patterns) are present in people with (risk for) depression. The measurement of activity patterns using these light-weight devices, is non-invasive, with low burden to the participants, and allows for the possibility of long-term monitoring of physical activity patterns
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