Association between physical activity domains and depressive symptoms among Brazilian adults: does every move count?

This study aimed to investigate the practice of physical activities in the four domains (leisure time, transportation, household, and work) and the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Brazilian adults, in general and stratified by sex, schooling level, and having or not a self-reported diagnosis of depression. This is a cross-sectional study with data from 88,531 individuals aged 18 years or older, who responded to the Brazilian National Health Survey in 2019. The depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Those who practice physical activities at least once a week in a given domain were considered physically active. Additionally, the calculation of physical activities duration was conducted and later divided into quartiles for each domain. For the association analyses, the crude odds ratio (crudeOR) and adjusted odds ratio (adjustedOR) were calculated for the total and stratified analyses. Individuals who are physically active during leisure time showed a lower chance of presenting depressive symptoms, in total (adjustedOR = 0.74; 95%CI: 0.64-0.86) and in all stratifications, except for individuals with self-reported depression. The associations of leisure-time physical activity were most frequent in those who practice from 121 to 360 minutes/week. The individuals who were active in the transportation, household, and work domains had a higher chance of presenting depressive symptoms in some groups, with more consistent results for household physical activities. The results showed that the relationship between physical activities and depression among Brazilians varies according to domain and duration, and that the concept that "every move counts" seemed to be correct only for the leisure-time domain.