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A randomised, controlled study on the effects of a short-term endurance training programme in patients with major
K Knubben1, F M Reischies, M Adli
1Section of Sports Medicine, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Objective:
To evaluate the short-term effects of exercise in patients with major depression.
Design:
Prospective, randomised, controlled study.
Setting:
A university hospital.
Patients:
A consecutive series of 38 inpatients with a major depression episode undergoing standard clinical antidepressant drug treatment.
Interventions:
Patients were randomly assigned to an exercise (walking, n = 20) or placebo (low-intensity stretching and relaxation exercises, n = 18) group. Training was carried out for 10 days.
Main Outcome Measurements:
Severity of depression assessed with the Bech-Rafaelsen Melancholy Scale (BRMS) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D).
Results:
After 10 days, reduction of depression scores in the exercise group was significantly larger than in the placebo group (BRMS: 36% v 18%; CES-D: 41% v 21%; p for both = 0.01); the proportion of patients with a clinical response (reduction in the BRMS scores by more than six points) was also larger for the exercise group (65% v 22%, p<0.01).
Conclusions:
Endurance exercise may help to achieve substantial improvement in the mood of selected patients with major depression in a short time.
