Takeaway
- Patients at high-risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) with depressive symptoms may have lower physical activity levels, with a moderate association between depressive symptoms and daily step count.
- Interventions should be targeted to individuals with lowest activity rating, those with higher BMIs, or current smokers.
Why this matters
- Physical activity, if followed as per WHO recommendations, can reduce global CVD risk by 6%.
- There is limited data pertaining to the relationship between depressive symptoms and step count.
Study design
- Cross-sectional study of 1742 adults from 135 primary care practices in South London with high risk for developing CVD in the next 10 years.
- Patients were assessed for CVD risk using QRISK2 score and for depression using Patient Health Questionnaire-9.
- Funding: National Institute for Health Research - Health Technology Assessment Programme.
Key results
- Overall, daily step count was between 105 to 21,313 steps.
- After adjustments, participants with moderate to severe depressive symptoms were found to walk 15.6% less (P=.001) and those with mild depressive symptoms were found to walk 13.5% less (P<.001) than participants without depression.
- Every 1-year increase in age and a 1-point increase in BMI was associated with a decrease in step count by 1.2% in patients with moderate to severe depressive symptoms (P<.001) and by 2.7% in those with mild depressive symptoms (P<.001).
- Current smokers’ step count was 19.1% lower than that of non-smokers (P<.001).
Limitations
- Cross-sectional study design.
References
References
