Physical activity in depressed and non-depressed patients with obesity

Abstract

PurposeObesity and depression have both been shown to be associated with reduced physical activity (PA). However, most studies have not applied objective measures to determine PA in patients. Moreover, to our knowledge, no studies are available comparing depressed and non-depressed patients with regard to PA.MethodsWe investigated PA in 47 patients with both obesity and depression, 70 non-depressed patients with obesity, and 71 non-depressed and non-obese healthy control participants using the SenseWear™ Armband (SWA) with walked steps per day and metabolic equivalents (MET) as parameters for PA.ResultsDepressed as well as non-depressed patients with obesity showed a significantly reduced PA as reflected by walked steps as well as reduced METs. Healthy controls walked a mean of 11,586 ± 3731 (SD) steps per day, whereas non-depressed patients with obesity accumulated 7283 ± 3547 and patients with both obesity and depression recorded only 6177 ± 3291 steps per day. However, the difference between depressed and non-depressed patients with obesity did not reach statistical significance either in terms of walked steps or with regard to METs.ConclusionsObesity seems to be associated with a substantial reduction of PA and energy expenditure, whereas the effect of an additional depressive disorder was comparably small. Even though depression did not have any statistically significant effect on steps and METs per day in this study with obese patients, it could be clinically relevant for an individual patient.

Levels of Physical Activity, Obesity and Related Factors in Young Adults Aged 18–30 During 2009–2017

“…A high BMI and depression are two current problems in society carrying a significant burden in terms of disease, functional disability and mortality [3,19,20,22,39,40]. In line with our findings, it has been found that obesity increases the risk of depression [41,42] and that the reverse is also true [43], with there being a bidirectional relationship.…”

“…In line with our findings, it has been found that obesity increases the risk of depression [41,42] and that the reverse is also true [43], with there being a bidirectional relationship. Physical activity seems to have a significant relationship with depression [39,44,45] and with overweight and obesity [5,46]. A possible solution to improve both pathologies is PA.…”

“…In sedentary youth, there is the highest rate of obesity and depression. Trends have been observed that depressed obese people do less PA than obese people without depression [39].…”

Is There an Association or Not?—Investigating the Association of Depressiveness, Physical Activity, Body Composition and Sleep With Mediators of Inflammation

“…No systematic intervention took place between the two assessments, apart from many of the obese participants receiving information on healthy nutrition and physical activity while waiting for an appointment for a stomach reduction. Data from the baseline assessment has been published elsewhere ( 1 , 2 , 11 , 25 , 26 ), while results from the follow-up assessment have not yet been presented.…”

Physical and Mental Health Consequences of Obesity in Women

“…It is often noted that a lack of PA is linked to depressive symptoms. Similarly, obese individuals show decreased PA, possibly due to limited function of their musculoskeletal system or sleep disturbances; this includes obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), which is accompanied by increased daytime sleepiness and elevated, pro-somnogenic cytokine levels [166,171,172]. However, a lack of physical activity may also be a causal factor contributing to the development of obesity.…”