Twenty-four-hour physical activity patterns associated with depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional study using big...

Area of Science:

• Behavioral science
• Public health
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Depression presents a significant global health and economic challenge.
• While physical activity is linked to depression, temporal activity patterns remain understudied.
• This study explores if specific daily physical activity patterns are better depression markers than total activity amount.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between depressive symptoms and dominant daily activity behaviors based on 24-hour physical activity patterns.
• To determine if temporal activity patterns are more indicative of depressive symptoms than overall activity levels.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study using NHANES 2011-2012 data from 4242 US adults.
• Accelerometer data analyzed for physical activity patterns using unsupervised machine learning.
• Multivariable logistic regression used to assess the association between activity behaviors and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 scores).

Main Results:

• Four distinct physical activity-count behaviors were identified.
• Evening dominant activity behavior showed a positive association with depressive symptoms.
• Morning dominant behavior served as the reference group for comparison.

Conclusions:

• Nuanced physical activity patterns, particularly evening dominance, may be associated with depressive symptoms.
• Temporal activity patterns could offer a more effective way to monitor and identify individuals with latent depressive symptoms.
• This research highlights the importance of considering the timing of physical activity in depression assessment.