Influencing Factors on the Efficacy of Aerobic Exercise Therapy in Depression: A Single-Centre Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Aerobic exercise therapy can improve brain function and promote positive emotions in patients with depression. This study aims to improve the efficacy of aerobic exercise therapy in depression by investigating the influencing factors therein.

Methods: This study conducted a single-centre cross-sectional analysis of clinical data from 211 depression patients who received aerobic exercise therapy at Heze Mudan People's Hospital from May 2021 to May 2023. After excluding 10 patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria, the final cohort included 201 patients. The clinical data of patients with effective treatment and patients with ineffective treatment were collected, such as socio-demographic characteristics, disease status, depression degree, treatment compliance, and social support. Binary Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors affecting the clinical efficacy of aerobic exercise therapy in patients.

Results: Among the 201 patients, the effective and ineffective rates of aerobic exercise therapy were 80.10% (161/201) and 19.90% (40/201), respectively. When analysed as groups, no significant differences were observed between the effective group (EG) and ineffective group (IG) regarding gender, body mass index, course of depression, age of first onset, mental symptoms, years of education, personal income, or marital status (p > 0.05). However, the EG exhibited a reduced probability of family history of mental illness, smoking history, and severity of depression (p < 0.05), along with higher treatment compliance and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) scores compared to the IG (p < 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that smoking history, family history of mental illness, treatment compliance, depression, and SSRS score were the primary influencing factors on the efficacy of aerobic exercise therapy (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Smoking history, family history of mental illness, treatment compliance, severity of depression, and social support are the primary influencing factors on the efficacy of aerobic exercise therapy in patients with depression. These factors should be emphasized during follow-up treatment to optimize the clinical treatment effect.