Exercise Intervention for Late-Life Depression

To quantify the association between physical exercise intervention (PEI) and reduction in depressive symptoms in older adults.MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE were searched from inception through December 2018 with no language restrictions using keywords related to exercise, depression, elderly adults, and randomized controlled trials.Randomized controlled trials comparing a sedentary control group, with no physically active intervention, to a supervised, moderate-to-vigorous PEI with participants aged ≥ 60 years and having a primary outcome of depressive symptoms were included.Data on pre- and post-intervention scores on scales measuring depressive symptoms were extracted using a standard form. Random-effects models were used to pool standardized mean differences (Hedges g) in depressive symptoms across studies.Nine studies involving 1,308 participants were included; mean participant age was 82 years. Moderate-to-vigorous PEI was associated with a medium effect size of 0.64 (95% CI, 0.27 to 1.01; z = 3.38; P < .001) in reducing depressive symptoms. However, there was considerable heterogeneity (T² = 0.22, Q = 36.34, P < .0001; I² = 78.0%) in the effect of PEI across included studies. Age > 80 years, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score < 23, and no depressive symptoms at baseline contributed to heterogeneity. Fitness metrics and adherence to exercise were inconsistently reported, and 5 of 9 studies were deemed at high risk of bias.A moderate reduction in depressive symptoms was seen with PEI among older adults. Nevertheless, more work is needed to support PEI for late-life depression in adults over age 80 years or with MMSE scores < 23 suggestive of cognitive decline.