Physical activity and persistence of supra-threshold depressive symptoms in older adults: a ten-year cohort study

Few multination-based studies have examined the longitudinal association between PA (physical activity) and persistence of supra-threshold depressive symptoms (SDS). This cohort study aimed to assess the influence of PA on persistence of SDS. Data were obtained from the Population Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The cohort was composed of individuals with SDS at baseline. Depressive symptoms were ascertained using the EURO-D scale, with a value over 4 indicatives of SDS. The study included 6,631 participants with SDS. After adjusting for nine different covariates at baseline and the changes of PA level during the follow-up period, compared to very low PA, moderately high (OR=0.82; 95 %CI: 0.69–0.98; p = 0.03), and high (OR=0.80; 95 %CI: 0.66–0.95; p = 0.01) PA levels were associated with significantly reduced persistence of depressive symptoms. In a propensity score analysis, matching low and high PA level for baseline scores of EURO-D, people with high PA levels reported a lower EURO-D of 0.53 points (p < 0.0001). In conclusion, among adults with depression, higher levels of PA were associated with a reduced persistence of depression. These real-world data complement evidence on efficacy of exercise as a treatment for depression and can inform clinical guidelines.