Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug 18;20(1):1255.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09323-y.

Exercise interventions for the prevention of depression: a systematic review of meta-analyses

Mandy X Hu  1 , David Turner  2 , Ellen Generaal  3 , Daniel Bos  4   5 , M Kamran Ikram  4 , M Arfan Ikram  4 , Pim Cuijpers  2 , Brenda W J H Penninx  3
Affiliations

Exercise interventions for the prevention of depression: a systematic review of meta-analyses

Mandy X Hu et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Exercise may be a promising target for depression interventions. However, evidence for a beneficial effect of exercise interventions on the prevention of depression differs substantially across different studies.

Methods: A systematic search was performed up to July 2018 using PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane. Articles were included if a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was performed that examined the effect of exercise interventions on the onset of depression or depressive symptoms in the general population. Meta-analyses focusing on treatment of diagnosed depression were excluded. Two authors independently screened the articles and graded the quality of included meta-analyses using AMSTAR 2.

Results: Eight meta-analyses were included that showed little overlap in 134 included studies. All meta-analyses reported on depressive symptoms rather than onset of depression. Five of these were rated as moderate quality and three of low quality. Six meta-analyses found significant effects, and two found non-significant effects of exercise interventions in reducing depressive symptoms in children, adolescents, adults and the elderly (effect sizes ranging from - 0.10 to - 0.81). Scarce evidence did not allow to draw conclusions about the role of sex and characteristics of exercise on depression. However, some findings suggest that low intensity exercise was as effective as high intensity exercise. Heterogeneity among primary studies was high, likely caused by differences in study quality and exercise characteristics.

Conclusions: The evidence from this study suggests that exercise interventions have a beneficial effect on depressive symptoms in the general population across a wide age-range.

Keywords: Depression; Meta-analysis; Physical activity; Randomized controlled trial; Systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
PRISMA flow diagram of the search and selection process for the meta-analyses included in the current study
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Forest plot of effect sizes (95% confidence interval) of exercise interventions on depression found by the included meta-analyses
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization . Depression and other common mental disorders: global health estimates. Geneva: WHO; 2017.
    1. Ormel J, Cuijpers P, Jorm AF, Schoevers R. Prevention of depression will only succeed when it is structurally embedded and targets big determinants. World Psychiatry. 2019;18:111–112. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blazer DG, Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Swartz MS. The prevalence and distribution of major depression in a national community sample: The National Comorbidity Survey. Am J Psychiatry. 1994;151(7):979–986. - PubMed
    1. Greenberg PE, Fournier A-A, Sisitsky T, Pike CT, Kessler RC. The economic burden of adults with major depressive disorder in the United States (2005 and 2010) J Clin Psychiatry. 2015;76(2):155–162. - PubMed
    1. Sim K, Lau WK, Sim J, Sum MY, Baldessarini RJ. Prevention of relapse and recurrence in adults with major depressive disorder: systematic review and meta-analyses of controlled trials. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2016;19(2):pyv076. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types