JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Depression is a significant global health problem, affecting over 300 million people and resulting in 12.7% of all deaths. Depression causes various physical and cognitive problems, leading to a 5-10-year decrease in life expectancy compared to the general population. Physical activity is known to be an effective evidence-based treatment for depression. However, people generally have difficulties participating in physical activity due to limitations in time and accessibility.

Objective:

To address this issue, this study aims to contribute to the development of alternative and innovative intervention methods for depression and stress management in adults. More specifically, we attempted to investigate the effectiveness of a mobile-based physical activity program on depression, perceived stress, psychological well-being, and quality of life among adults in Korea.

Methods:

The participants were recruited online and offline, then randomly assigned to either the mobile phone intervention or waitlist group. Self-report questionnaires were used to evaluate variables before and after treatment. The treatment group used the program about three times per week at home for four weeks, and each session took about 30 minutes. To assess the impact of the program, we conducted a 2 (condition) × 2 (time) repeated-measures ANOVA with pre- and post-treatment measures and group as independent variables. To gain a more detailed understanding of the data, we conducted paired-samples t-tests to compare pre- and post-treatment measurements within each group, and also performed an independent-samples t-test analysis to evaluate intergroup differences in pre-treatment measurements.

Results:

The study included a total of 68 adults aged 18-65 years who were recruited both online and offline. Of these, 41 (60.3%) were randomly assigned to the treatment group and 27 (39.3%) to the waitlist group. The attrition rate was 10.2% after 4 weeks. The findings indicated that there is a significant interaction between condition and time (F=7.43, P=.01, ηp2 = .36) on participants’ depression scores, indicating that the effect of the program differed between the assigned groups. No significant changes were observed in perceived stress, psychological well-being, or quality of life. Further, Depression scores significantly decreased in the treatment group (from 7.08 to 4.64, P=.03, Cohen’s D = .50), but not in the waitlist group (from 6.72 to 5.08, P=.20, Cohen’s D = .36). Perceived-stress score of the treatment group also significantly decreased (from 2.95 to 2.72, P=.05, Cohen’s D = .46), but not in the waitlist group (from 2.82 to 2.74, P=.55, Cohen’s D = .15).

Conclusions:

This study provided experimental evidence that mobile-based physical activity program affects depression significantly. By exploring the potential of mobile-based physical activity programs as a treatment option, this study seeks to improve accessibility and encourage participation in physical activity, ultimately promoting better mental health outcomes for individuals suffering from depression and stress. Clinical Trial: HYUIRB-202203-010-1