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- Title
Efficacy of physical exercise in the treatment of depressed older adults.
- Authors
Arts, M. H. L.; Petrykiv, S.; De Jonge, L.
- Abstract
Introduction: Since late-life depression is often correlated with low physical activity, the implementation of physical exercise in order to enhance functional limitations should also be considered as a feasible treatment modality. Previous research has suggested that increased physical activity might be beneficial in the prevention or treatment of depressive symptoms. Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of physical exercise in depressed older adults as an alternative to antidepressant medication. Methods: An English-language literature search was conducted using Pubmed, EMBASE and Cochrane library. Results: Some studies proposed physical exercise as a complementary or even as an alternative treatment option for late-life depression. However, conflicting results have been reported and the results must be interpreted carefully due to methodological weaknessess, including inadequate concealed randomization, small sample sizes, short follow-up duration, and poor quality of data analysis. There are clear indications to consider that physical activity can contribute to the reduction of depressive symptoms in older adults. Conclusions: To obtain more insight of the effect of physical activity on late-life depression, further research is needed, based on well-designed studies.
- Subjects
DEPRESSED persons; OLDER people; ANTIDEPRESSANTS; PHYSICAL activity; MENTAL depression
- Publication
European Psychiatry, 2020, Vol 63, pS437
- ISSN
0924-9338
- Publication type
Article