Yearlong Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Older Japanese Adults: Cross-Sectional Data from the Nakanojo Study

doi:10.1097/01.JGP.0000200602.70504.9c

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

Volume 14, Issue 7, July 2006, Pages 621-624

https://doi.org/10.1097/01.JGP.0000200602.70504.9c Get rights and content

Objective

The objective of this study was to investigate associations between accelerometer measurements of physical activity and psychosocial variables in older people.

Methods

Subjects were 184 Japanese aged 65–85 years. An accelerometer provided step count and physical activity intensity data throughout each 24-hour period for 1 year. At the end of the year, anxiety, depression, and cognitive function were assessed.

Results

Controlling for age, the daily number of steps, and the daily duration of moderate-intensity physical activity showed significant negative correlations with depressive mood.

Conclusion

A depressive mood is associated with the quantity and quality of habitual physical activity.

Section snippets

METHODS

The subjects were 83 male and 101 female volunteers aged 65–85 years. All resided in Nakanojo Town, Gunma Prefecture, a rural area of Japan. The subjects gave their written informed consent to participate in this institutionally approved study. On the basis of their annual medical examination, all subjects were judged free of chronic conditions that might limit their ability to engage in physical activity.

An electronic accelerometer with a storage capacity of 36 days (modified Kenz Lifecorder;

RESULTS

The year-averaged step count and the year-averaged duration of physical activity >3 METs (mean [standard deviation {SD}]) of our subjects were 6,635 (2750) steps/day and 17.7 (11.9) minutes/day, respectively. These two variables were significantly correlated with each other (r = 0.854, p <0.001, df = 183). Subjects taking <4,000 steps/day averaged <5 minutes/day at an intensity of >3 METs, whereas those taking >10,000 steps/day averaged >30 minutes/day at an intensity of >3 METs.

The mean (SD)

DISCUSSION

The present data show a trend toward an association between yearlong physical activity as measured by an accelerometer and a depressed mood state in older Japanese adults with relatively good psychosocial function. After controlling for the effects of age, both the daily step count and the daily duration of physical activity >3 METs had significant negative correlations with depression (HADS-D) scores. These findings seem in keeping with previous studies of subjects with clinically significant

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The Shiga Epidemiological Study of Subclinical Atherosclerosis randomly recruited community-dwelling healthy men aged 40–79 years from Shiga, Japan, and measured their step counts over 7 consecutive days using a pedometer at baseline (2006–2008). Among men who returned for follow-up (2009–2014), we assessed their cognitive function using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) score. We restricted our analyses to those with valid 7-day average step counts at baseline and those who remained free of stroke at follow-up (n = 676). Using analysis of covariance, we calculated the adjusted means of the CASI score according to the quartiles of the average step counts.
The mean (standard deviation) of age and unadjusted CASI score were 63.8 (9.1) years and 90.8 (5.8), respectively. The CASI score was elevated in higher quartiles of step counts (90.2, 90.4, 90.6, and 91.8 from the lowest to the highest quartile, respectively, [p for trend = 0.004]) in a model adjusted for age and education. Further adjustment for smoking, drinking, and other cardiovascular risk factors resulted in a similar pattern of association (p for trend = 0.005).
In apparently healthy middle-aged and older Japanese men, a greater 7-day average step count at baseline was associated with significantly higher cognitive function score.
Objectively measured habitual physical activity and sleep-related phenomena in 1645 people aged 1–91 years: The Nakanojo Community Study
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Relationships between habitual physical activity and sleep-related phenomena were examined in 623 male and 1022 female Japanese participating in the Nakanojo Community Study, using data collected in 2012–2013. Ages ranged from infancy to very old. Daily step count and daily duration of exercise at an intensity >3 metabolic equivalents (METs) were determined by pedometer/accelerometer, 24 h/day for 1 week. Duplicate axillary temperatures were also taken on rising and when retiring. Total bed time was noted, and the efficiency of sleep determined as hours of actual sleep (from a validated pedometer/accelerometer algorithm) divided by bed time. Step counts and especially duration of activity >3 METs peaked in teenagers and decreased as age advanced (p < 0.001). Both axillary temperatures subsequently showed a gradual age-related decline (p < 0.001). The duration and efficiency of sleep also showed a small age-dependent decrease (p < 0.001). Multivariate-adjusted correlation coefficients indicated a better quality of sleep in individuals who took greater habitual physical activity. In individuals aged ≥40 years, these findings were modified by chronic disease conditions including hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipemia; after controlling statistically for potential confounders, both physical activity and axillary temperature were lower (p < 0.05 or 0.01), and the time spent lying was longer but the efficiency of sleep was poorer (p < 0.01) in those with chronic conditions. These results suggest that habitual physical activity bears an important relationship to sleep-related phenomena at all ages, with a modification of relationships by chronic disease in people aged ≥40 years.
Aging, Physical Activity, and Health
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Associations between walking and depressive symptoms among older adults: Do purposes and amounts of walking matter? Results from the VoisiNuAge Study
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Walking has been associated with lower depressive symptoms. However, walking may be performed for different purposes and there is uncertainty regarding the optimal amount (duration and frequency) of walking among older adults.
1) To investigate whether walking for fitness purposes and walking for purposes other than fitness are differentially associated with depressive symptoms; 2) to investigate the effect of amounts of walking.
Participants (n = 436) were older adults from the VoisiNuAge Study. Regression analyses examined whether fitness walking and walking for purposes other than fitness were differentially associated with depressive symptoms, independent of physical activity other than walking, socio-demographic variables, stressful events, number of chronic illnesses, and neighborhood variables. For both fitness walking and walking for other purposes, three amounts of walking were investigated: moderate (≥30 min, ≥ 3 days a week), high (≥30 min, ≥ 5 days a week), and very high (≥30 min, 7 days a week) amounts of walking. Analyses were stratified by amounts of walking.
Walking for fitness purposes, but not walking for purposes other than fitness, was significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms. However, the association between fitness walking and lower depressive symptoms was statistically significant when amount of walking was moderate or high but not when walking amount was very high.
Walking is not necessarily associated with depressive symptoms per se: Rather, the joint influence of purposes and amounts of walking must be taken into account.
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Citation Excerpt :
Physical activity has been shown to have an inverse relationship with depression in the elderly. Among recently published observational studies6–12 and clinical trials13–16 in which physical activity and depression in older adults were examined, an inverse relationship was reported in the majority of them.7–10,12,13 Although these studies concluded that physical activity was protective for depression, methodological issues make it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
Depressive symptoms are prevalent in older adults, and physical activity (PA) may have beneficial effects on depression. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between physical activity and depressive symptoms, taking into account demographic factors, and the associations between selected demographic factors and physical activity levels in community-dwelling older adults (age ≥ 60 years).
Data were drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2006. Descriptive statistics and logistic models were used in data analysis.
Four percent of participants reported moderate depressive symptoms, and 24% of subjects exhibited sedentary PA. Factors associated with increased risk of moderate depression included age, sedentary PA, and chronic medical conditions (ps < 0.05). Sedentary PA was significantly associated with age, race, education, BMI, smoking status, alcohol use, and taking psychotropics (ps < 0.05).
PA is a protective factor for depression in older adults, and clinical implications to encourage PA are discussed.
Sex differences in relationships between habitual physical activity and health in the elderly: Practical implications for epidemiologists based on pedometer/accelerometer data from the Nakanojo Study
2013, Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Citation Excerpt :
Given the strong likelihood of experiencing adverse events such as the death or illness of their spouse in this age group, it is important to monitor the quality of life in seniors, encouraging them to sustain their level of habitual physical activity in the period immediately following such events, and to ensure that data collection covers a sufficiently long period to indicate typical activity patterns independent of short-term psychosocial stressors. Data from our project (Aoyagi et al., 2009; Aoyagi, Park, Kakiyama, Park, et al., 2010; Park et al., 2007, 2008, 2010; Yasunaga et al., 2006; Yoshiuchi et al., 2006) have indicated that many measures of health are related to both step count and the duration of moderately vigorous physical activity (Table 3 and Fig. 2). In men, the degree of health is associated more closely with the daily duration of physical activity >3 METs than with the daily step count, whereas in women, the association is closer for the step count than for the duration of activity >3 METs (Park et al., 2007; Yasunaga et al., 2006).
We review sex differences in the relationship between habitual physical activity and health in the elderly, with particular reference to pedometer/accelerometer data from the Nakanojo Study. Maximal aerobic power, walking speed and habitual physical activity are 10–30% greater in men than in women. This reflects not only biological but also socio-cultural and environmental factors, with the latter becoming dominant as age advances. It implies a need for sex-specific thresholds of moderate activity. Overall health is associated with both the year-averaged daily step count (the best indicator in women) and the year-averaged daily duration of physical activity >3 metabolic equivalents (METs) (the best indicator in men). In both sexes, the threshold ranges of step count and/or duration of activity >3 METs associated with a reduced prevalence of health problems are: 4000–5000 steps/day and/or 5–7.5 min/day for impaired mental and psychosocial health, such as a depressed mood state and a poor health-related quality of life; 7000–8000 steps/day and/or 15–20 min/day for markers of aortic arteriosclerosis, osteoporosis, sarcopenia and poor physical fitness; and 8000–10,000 steps/day and/or 20–30 min/day for components of the metabolic syndrome, especially hypertension and hyperglycemia. Irrespective of sex, both the intensity and the total volume of physical activity are influenced by stressful life events, such as a partner's death, and immediate meteorological factors, particularly precipitation and mean ambient temperature, underlining the need for long-term measurement of activity patterns. These findings have practical implications for those who engage in epidemiological studies and/or design health promotional programs for the elderly.

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The authors acknowledge the expert technical assistance of the research and nursing staffs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, The University of Tokyo, and the Nakanojo Public Health Center.

This study was supported in part by a grant (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research [C]: 15500503) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Brief ReportsYearlong Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Older Japanese Adults: Cross-Sectional Data from the Nakanojo Study

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Section snippets

METHODS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Biol Psychiatry

Am J Prev Med

J Psychiatr Res

Am J Prev Med

CHAMPS physical activity questionnaire for older adults: outcomes for interventions

Med Sci Sports Exerc

Brief Reports
Yearlong Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Older Japanese Adults: Cross-Sectional Data from the Nakanojo Study