Physical activity and depression in older adults with and without cognitive impairment / Atividade física e depressão em adultos idosos com e sem comprometimento cognitive

ABSTRACT Low physical activity and depression may be related to cognitive impairment in the elderly. Objetive: To determine depression and physical activity (PA) among older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Methods: 156 older adults, both males and females, aged ≥60 years, were asked to complete the Thai Mini-Mental State Examination (Thai-MMSE), a global cognitive impairment screening tool. Seventy-eight older adults with cognitive impairment and 78 older adults without cognitive impairment were then separately administered two questionnaires (i.e., the Thai Geriatric Depression Scale; TGDS and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire; GPAQ). Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk of developing cognitive impairment in the groups of older individuals with and without cognitive impairment. Results: A cross-sectional study of elderly with a mean age of 74.47 ± 8.14 years was conducted. There were significant differences on the depression scale and in PA between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Further, participants with low PA and high level of depressive symptoms had an increased risk of cognitive impairment (Odds ratio = 4.808 and 3.298, respectively). Conclusion: Significant differences were noted in PA and on depression scales between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Therefore, increased PA and decreased depressive symptoms (i.e., having psychological support) are suggested to reduce the risks of cognitive impairment in older adults.

RESUMO Baixa atividade física e depressão podem estar relacionados com comprometimento cognitivo em idosos. Objetivo: Determinar a prevalência de depressão e atividade física (AF) entre idosos com e sem comprometimento cognitivo. Métodos: 156 idosos com idade ≥60 anos completaram o Mini-Exame do Estado Mental tailandês (Thai-MMSE) que é um instrumento de rastreio cognitivo global. Setenta e oito idosos com comprometimento cognitivo e 78 sem comprometimento responderam a dois questionários (versão tailandesa da Escala de Depressão Geriátrica - GSD e do Questionário de Atividade Física Global - GPAQ). Resultados: houve diferenças na escala de depressão e AF entre os idosos com e sem comprometimento cognitivo. Além disso, participantes com baixa AF e maior frequencia de sintomas depressivos tiveram um aumento no risco de comprometimento cognitivo (OR = 4,808 e 3,298, respectivamente). Conclusão: Diferenças significativas foram notadas nas escalas de AF e depressão entre idosos com e sem comprometimento cognitivo. O aumento da AF e diminuição de sintomas depressivos (i.e., ter suporte psicológico) sugerem redução no risco de comprometimento cognitivo em adultos idosos.

Symptoms of anxiety and depression are related to cardiovascular responses to active, but not passive, coping tasks

Objective: Anxiety and depression have been linked to blunted blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) reactions to mental stress tests; however, most studies have not included indices of underlying hemodynamics nor multiple stress tasks. This study sought to examine the relationships of anxiety and depression with hemodynamic responses to acute active and passive coping tasks. Methods: A total of 104 participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales and mental arithmetic, speech, and cold pressor tasks while BP, HR, total peripheral resistance, and cardiac output (CO) were assessed. Results: After adjustment for traditional risk factors and baseline cardiovascular activity, depression scores were negatively associated with systolic BP, HR, and CO responses to the mental arithmetic task, while anxiety scores were inversely related to the systolic BP response to mental arithmetic. Conclusion: High anxiety or depression scores appear to be associated with blunted cardiac reactions to mental arithmetic (an active coping task), but not to the cold pressor test or speech tasks. Future research should further examine potential mechanisms and longitudinal pathways relating depression and anxiety to cardiovascular reactivity. Clinical trial registration number: TCTR20160208004

Effects of 10, 000 steps a day on physical and mental health in overweight participants in a community setting: a preliminary study

ABSTRACT Background Being overweight is associated not only with physical health problems, but also with risk of mental health problems. Increased physical activity (PA) has been recommended for the prevention of cardiovascular disease; however, little is known about the effect of walking on physical and mental health outcomes. Objective The purpose of the study was to explore the effectiveness of a pedometer-based PA intervention on physical and mental health states. Method Thirty-five overweight participants with body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg•m–2 were selected and assigned to a 12-week pedometer-based walking program (10,000 steps•d–1). The profile of mood states, BMI, waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage (%BF), and lean body mass (LBM) were measured before and after the 12-week intervention. The number of step counts was recorded 5 days a week in a diary booklet. Results The 30 participants who accumulated 10,000 steps•d–1 had significantly lower anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion, and total mood distress scores compared with measurements taken prior to the intervention. Further, the participants had higher vigor scores compared to baseline. Regarding physical health, the participants who accrued 10,000 steps a day had significantly lower body weight, WC, BMI, and %BP. After adjustment for gender, height, and daily steps at follow-up, changes in WC were negatively associated with depression, fatigue, confusion, and total mood distress. Conclusions An increase in PA by accumulating at least 10,000 steps•d–1 over a 12-week period improves physical and mood states in sedentary, overweight individuals.