Physical Activity and Depression and Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review of Reviews and Assessment of Causality

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HIGHLIGHTS

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We conducted a systematic review of reviews and assessment of causality.
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Most evidence was from observational studies.
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Physical activity is inversely related to incident depression and anxiety.
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Depression and anxiety are probably causally related to physical inactivity.

Abstract

Introduction

Globally, depressive and anxiety disorders are the leading contributors to mental ill health. Physical activity reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety and has been proposed as an adjunct treatment therapy for depression and anxiety. Prospective studies suggest that physical activity may reduce the incidence of depression and anxiety. We conducted a systematic review of reviews with the aim to provide a comprehensive overview of available epidemiologic evidence on the strength of the association between physical activity and incident cases of depression and anxiety and to assess the likelihood of these associations being causal.

Methods

We searched Embase and PubMed databases for systematic reviews published between January 1, 2000 and March 19, 2020 that reported findings on the strength of association between physical activity and incidence of depression and anxiety. We updated this search to October 15, 2022. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodologic quality of the included reviews using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews rating scale. We carried out a narrative synthesis of the evidence. We used the Bradford Hill criteria to assess the likelihood of associations being causal.

Results

The initial search yielded 770 articles, of which 4 remained for data extraction. Two of the included reviews were scored as high quality, and 2 were scored as low quality. From the 2 included reviews that reported pooled estimates, people with high physical activity levels were found to have a decreased risk of incident depression (adjusted RR=0.83, 95% CI=0.76, 0.90) and reduced odds of developing anxiety (adjusted OR=0.74,95% CI=0.62, 0.88) when compared with those with low physical activity levels. We assessed physical activity to be probably causally related to both depression and anxiety.

Discussion

Our evidence is drawn from systematic reviews of observational data. Further high-quality studies, such as randomized control trials, would help to strengthen the evidence base of the associations between physical activity and depression and anxiety. Nonetheless, our findings provide empirical support for the consideration of physical activity in strategies for the prevention of mental ill health.

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Most cited references 46

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The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews

Matthew J L Page, Joanne E McKenzie, Patrick Bossuyt … (2027)

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, published in 2009, was designed to help systematic reviewers transparently report why the review was done, what the authors did, and what they found. Over the past decade, advances in systematic review methodology and terminology have necessitated an update to the guideline. The PRISMA 2020 statement replaces the 2009 statement and includes new reporting guidance that reflects advances in methods to identify, select, appraise, and synthesise studies. The structure and presentation of the items have been modified to facilitate implementation. In this article, we present the PRISMA 2020 27-item checklist, an expanded checklist that details reporting recommendations for each item, the PRISMA 2020 abstract checklist, and the revised flow diagrams for original and updated reviews.

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Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement

David Moher, Larissa Shamseer, Mike Clarke … (2017)

Systematic reviews should build on a protocol that describes the rationale, hypothesis, and planned methods of the review; few reviews report whether a protocol exists. Detailed, well-described protocols can facilitate the understanding and appraisal of the review methods, as well as the detection of modifications to methods and selective reporting in completed reviews. We describe the development of a reporting guideline, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 (PRISMA-P 2015). PRISMA-P consists of a 17-item checklist intended to facilitate the preparation and reporting of a robust protocol for the systematic review. Funders and those commissioning reviews might consider mandating the use of the checklist to facilitate the submission of relevant protocol information in funding applications. Similarly, peer reviewers and editors can use the guidance to gauge the completeness and transparency of a systematic review protocol submitted for publication in a journal or other medium.

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Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Theo Vos, Stephen S Lim, Cristiana Abbafati … (2023)

Summary Background In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and development investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Author and article information

Contributors

J. Lennert Veerman

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): AJPM Focus

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): AJPM Focus

Title: AJPM Focus

Publisher: Elsevier

ISSN (Electronic): 2773-0654

Publication date PMC-release: 04 February 2023

Publication date Collection: June 2023

Publication date (Electronic): 04 February 2023

Volume: 2

Issue: 2

Electronic Location Identifier: 100074

Affiliations

[1 ]Public Health & Economics Modelling Group, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Southport, Australia

[2 ]School of Population Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Kensington, Australia

[3 ]The George Institute for Global Health, Newtown, New South Wales, Australia

[4 ]Health Equity Research and Development Unit (HERDU), University of New South Wales Sydney, Kensington, Australia

[5 ]Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, NSW Ministry of Health, Sydney, Australia

[6 ]School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sidney, Australia

[7 ]Health Infrastructure, NSW Health, Sydney, Australia

[8 ]Centre for Population Health, NSW Ministry of Health, Sydney, Australia

Author notes

[* ]Address correspondence to: J. Lennert Veerman, PhD, Public Health & Economics Modelling Group, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast campus, Parklands Drive, Southport 4222 Australia. l.veerman@ 123456griffith.edu.au

Article

Publisher Item ID: S2773-0654(23)00011-1 Publisher ID: 100074

DOI: 10.1016/j.focus.2023.100074

PMC ID: 10546525

PubMed ID: 37790636

SO-VID: ae8bf9b4-b13d-4aa0-af55-823108ec0023

License:

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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Physical Activity and Depression and Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review of Reviews and Assessment of Causality

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HIGHLIGHTS

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Graphical Abstract

Related collections

Stigmatisation of mental illnesses

Most cited references 46

The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews

Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

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