Association between Daily Pattern of Physical Activity and Depression: A Systematic Review

Vincenza Gianfredi, Pietro Ferrara, Flavia Pennisi, Giulia Casu, Andrea Amerio, Anna Odone, Daniele Nucci and Monica Dinu
Additional contact information
Vincenza Gianfredi: Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Via Pascal 36, 20133 Milan, Italy
Pietro Ferrara: Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Flavia Pennisi: School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
Giulia Casu: School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
Andrea Amerio: Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, 16146 Genoa, Italy
Anna Odone: Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Daniele Nucci: Nutritional Support Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, 35128 Padua, Italy
Monica Dinu: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: Recent research suggested that daily pattern of physical activity (PA) may have an important association with depression, but findings are limited and contradictory. Our aim was to conduct a systematic review of the literature to summarize the literature evidence on the association between timing of PA and depression. A comprehensive search of PubMed/Medline and Scopus databases has been performed, and a total of five manuscripts have been thoroughly reviewed. The performed descriptive analysis shows lower levels of PA among individuals with depression or depressive symptoms, although evidence on the 24 h pattern of PA and depression is limited. An interesting finding is the association between lower PA during the morning, higher PA late in the evening (night), and depression or depressive symptoms. However, definitive conclusions could not be drawn due to the observational nature of the studies, their limited number, the high heterogeneity in the sample populations, and the studies’ differing outcome definitions and exposure assessments. Future studies considering not only the level of PA but also its daily variability might be important to further explore this novel area of research.

Keywords: exercise; circadian rhythm; daily pattern; objectively measured physical activity; depression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6505/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6505/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6505-:d:825187

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().