Long-term Sedentary Behavior is Associated with Depression: A Cross-sectional Analysis from NHANSE 2017-2018

Abstract

Abstract Background Lacking physical activity (PA) is an important risk factor for depression, the continuous decline of PA inevitably leads to the prolongation of sedentary behavior (SB) among adults, and limited evidence suggests that SB is also an independent risk factor associated with depression. Objective This study is to investigate the association between long-term sedentary behavior (LTSB) and depression in a representative sample of the American adult population using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Materials and Methods Data from NHANES 2017–2018 were aggregated, including demographic information, degree of depression, PA, duration of sedentary behavior, body index, etc. PA was assessed by the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Depression was screened by a Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in which includes several questions (Have little interest in doing things; Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless; Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much; etc.). Logistic regression was carried out to analyze associations between LTSB and depression. Results A total of 4728 adults (mean age 51.00 ± 17.49 years, 2310 males and 2418 females) were recruited in this study. The SB duration < 360 /d was negatively correlated with moderate to severe depression (r=-0.146, P = 0.029), while SB duration ≥ 720 min/d was a positive correlation with depression (r = 0.472, P = 0.001), significant correlations were not observed in other SB duration. LTSB had a significant effect on depression (OR = 1.484, 95% Cl: 1.176–1.817, P = 0.001), especially in moderate to severe depression (OR = 1.697, 95% Cl: 1.229–1.342, P = 0.001). The effects remained significant after adjusting for independent variables (OR = 1.429, 95% Cl: 1.122–1.820, P = 0.004), and this association was stronger in the occurrence of moderate to severe depression (OR = 1.586, 95% Cl: 1.139–2.210, P = 0.006). Furthermore, the detection rate of depression in females (710/2418, 29.36%) was higher than that in males (484/2310, 20.95%), and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions LTSB is a risk factor for depression, especially in moderate to severe depression. Middle-aged females who are not married tend to be the most likely to suffer from depression.