The Relationship between Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Middle-Aged and Elderly People Controlling for Demographic and Health Status Variables

Abstract

Objective: To explore the relationship between physical activity intensity and depressive symptoms in Chinese middle-aged and elderly people, and to provide new evidence for the prevention and treatment of depression by physical activity. Methods: The data came from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Using the PPS sampling method, a baseline survey was conducted among middle-aged and elderly people over the age of 45 across the country to investigate their demographics, health status, economic status, and other information. A total of 6128 people with complete information on depression and physical activity were included in the analysis. The Z-test, analysis of covariance, and logistic regression were performed on the data using SPSS 27.0 software. Results: In terms of depressive symptoms, the proportion of detected depressive symptoms was 33.6% and the proportion of no depressive symptoms was 69.4%, and the prevalence of males was higher than that of females. Participants with high physical activity accounted for 50.9%, participants with low physical activity accounted for 49.1%, and the physical activity of males was significantly higher than that of females. There was a significant relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly people (p < 0.05), and after adjusting for demographic variables (location of residence, education level, gender, age, and widowed or not), health status characteristics and living habits (diabetes and disability), self-rated health status, hypertension, stroke, hyperlipidemia, arthritis, and walking 1 km, the association between physical activity and depressive symptoms remained statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The proportion of Chinese middle-aged and elderly men suffering from depressive symptoms was slightly higher than that of women, and middle-aged and elderly people with high physical activity had a lower risk of developing depressive symptoms. Attention should be paid to middle-aged and elderly people who are older, have poor self-assessed health status, have disabilities, have high blood pressure, have arthritis, have low physical activity and cannot walk one kilometer, and have low physical activity. Scientific and effective exercise prescriptions should be explored to prevent and improve depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly people.