JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The relationship between physical activity and mental health, especially the symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and general anxiety disorder (GAD), has received increased attention in recent years.

Objective:

This study aims to explore the association between the physical activity and the risk and symptoms of MDD and GAD in the Saudi population.

Methods:

This study is a secondary analysis of data from a large nationwide cross-sectional survey conducted via phone interviews in June and July 2020. In this study, a proportional quota sampling technique was used to obtain equal distributions of participants, stratified by age and gender, across the 13 regions of Saudi Arabia. The main mental health screening tool used for the risk of MDD was the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Risk of GAD was measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD7) scale. Physical activity was divided into moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (MIPA) and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (VIPA), according to WHO global recommendations.

Results:

The data analysis included all 8,333 participants recruited in the main study between June and July 2020. Of them, 50.3% were female, and the mean age was 36.5 years, with the median age 36 years and the range from 18 to 90 years. The average total PHQ-9 score was 5.61, and the average total GAD-7 score was 4.18. There were significant differences between the average total score of the association between the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 and MIPA, but not VIPA. MIPA was associated with significantly lower depressive symptoms in 6 of 9 items on the PHQ-9. Moreover, MIPA was associated with significantly lower anxiety symptoms in 6 of 7 items on the GAD-7 score. However, VIPA was significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms on one PHQ-9 item (“Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or thoughts of hurting yourself in some way” (p<0.001)).

Conclusions:

This study has shown that MIPA is associated with fewer depression and anxiety symptoms in a nonclinical population. The general population’s increasing their MIPA may improve the well-being of their general mental health.