Identifying and treating depression, including increasing physical activity, may improve quality of life and reduce cardiovascular disease and death in African Americans, according to reports presented at the American Heart Association's 2009 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.
In one study, researchers in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) found high depressive symptoms were prevalent and significantly associated with low physical activity in African Americans. JHS is a population-based, longitudinal study and the largest single-site, prospective, epidemiologic investigation of cardiovascular disease among African Americans ever undertaken.
High depressive symptoms were identified by a standard depression scale and/or characterized by taking antidepressants. Physical activity scores were in the lowest quartile of the JHS Physical Activity Cohort (JPAC) survey for total physical activity, representing the sum of four index scores: active living, work (for those who were employed or did volunteer work), sport and home life.
Of the 3,092 adults (average age 54; 65 percent women; 12 percent smokers), 17 percent had high depressive symptoms. The prevalence of high depressive symptoms was significantly higher among:
- Women (20 percent compared with 10 percent in men);
- Smokers (28 percent compared with 15 percent in nonsmokers); and
- Those with low total physical activity (25 percent vs. 14 percent in higher physical activity).
Low physical activity was associated with high depressive symptoms in multivariable logistic regression analysis after controlling for age, sex, body mass index, education, income, and smoking.