Association between depressive symptoms and physical inactivity in technical-administrative workers from a public university in Northeast Brazil: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: to investigate the association between depressive symptoms and physical inactivity in technical-administrative workers from a public university in the Northeast of Brazil. Methods: cross-sectional study. We assessed depressive symptoms and physical activity using, respectively, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. We used Poisson regression analysis, and estimated the prevalence ratios (PR) and their respective 95%CI. Results: 301 workers participated, of which 71.1% were female. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was of 25.7%, and 52.0% of the workers declared being physically inactive. Depressive symptoms and physical inactivity were associated to the effect modifiers “time worked to the institution ≤ 15 years” (PR: 3.03; 95%CI: 1.05;9.16) e “work position at administrative sectors” (PR: 1.90; 95%CI: 1.14;3.18). Conclusion: the results evidence the association between depressive symptoms and physical inactivity in technical-administrative workers of a public university of the state of Bahia. The the main factor associated are time worked to the institution and work position at administrative sectors.