Sedentarismo como factor de riesgo de trastornos depresivos en adultos mayores. Un estudio exploratorio

Abstract

SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE SHOWED THAT PHYSICAL EXERCISE HAS A BENEFICENT EFFECT ON HEALTH IN ELDERLY; HOWEVER ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DEPRESSION IT HAS BEEN FEW STUDIED. THUS, THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL EXERCISE WITH THE DEPRESSION OF ELDERLY ADULTS. WE CARRIED OUT A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE OF 201 ELDERLY SUBJECTS ≥ 60 YEARS OLD (MEAN AGE, 68.5 ± 6.8 YEARS) OF MEXICO CITY. ALL THE SUBJECTS INCLUDED HAD 100% OF BASIC AND INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING, WERE WELL-NOURISHED AND WITHOUT CHRONIC DISEASES OR CONTROLLED. WE MEASURED DEPRESSION USING THE 30- ITEM GERIATRIC DEPRESSION SCALE (GDS), CONSIDERING AS CUTOFF POINT FOR DEPRESSION A SCORE ≥ 11. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WAS MEASURED WITH A SELF-REPORT QUESTIONNAIRE, CONSIDERING AS ACTIVE SUBJECTS WHEN PRACTICED PHYSICAL EXERCISE THREE OR MORE DAYS FOR WEEK, 30 TO 60 MINUTES DURING THE LAST YEAR. DATA WERE ANALYZED WITH LOGISTIC REGRESSION, ODDS RATIO (OR) WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [95% CI] STATISTICAL TESTS. FIFTY FIVE PERCENT OF THE SEDENTARY ELDERLY AND 30% OF ACTIVE ELDERLY WERE DETECTED AS DEPRESSED (OR, 3.14, 95%CI, 1.62–6.06, P < 0.0001). OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT LOW PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS A RISK FACTOR FOR DEPRESSION IN ELDERLY.