Table 2.
Study overview of endurance exercise interventions.
| References | Study design | Sample: Population, Sample size (n), Age (years) | Groups | Intervention | Training characteristics | Outcome measures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (40) | Randomized, controlled trial, 3 arms | Older adults ≥50 years, fulfilled DSM- IV criteria for MDD, n = 156; 57 ± 6.5 y | INT (n = 55) CON (n = 48) Exercise only group not in- volved in meta- analysis |
(a) INT, aerobic exercise sessions with a 10-min warm- up, 30 min walking or jogging with 70–85% of HRR and 5 min cool-down exercises; furthermore, patients received sertraline dosage of 50 mg up to 200 mg daily (b) CON, received only sertraline dosage of 50 mg up to 200 mg daily |
16 weeks, 3 ses- sions/week (48 training sessions); each session lasted 45 min | HAMD-D and BDI |
| 2 | (41) | Randomized, parallel group, pla- cebo-con- trolled trial | Outpatients, fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for MDD, aged over 40 years, n = 202; 52 ± 8 y | INT (n = 51) CON (n = 49) Medication group and home- based exercise group not in- volved in meta- analysis |
(a) INT, aerobic exercise sessions with a 10-min warm- up, 30 min walking or jogging with 70–85% of HRR and 5 min cool-down exercises. (b) CON, received placebo- pills with a dosage of 50 mg up to 200 mg daily |
16 weeks, 3 ses- sions/week (48 training sessions); each session lasted 45 min | HAM-D |
| 3 | (42) | Randomized, controlled trial, 2 arms | Women aged 18–65 years, with ICD-10 diagnosis for depres- sion, n = 19; INT: 52.78 ± 7.66 y CON: 47.80 ± 15.05 y | INT (n = 9) CON (n = 10) |
(a) INT, aerobic exercise sessions with a 10- min warm up, 30 min of aerobics with 65–75% of maximal heart rate and 5 min cool- down (b) CON, continued their usual pharmacological therapy but without any additional exercise to their habitual ac- tivities |
16 weeks, 3 session/week (48 training sessions); each session lasted 45–50 min | BDI-II |
| 4 | (43) | Not random- ized, con- trolled trial | Women, aged 20–64 years, with ICD-10 diagnosis for depres- sion, n = 82; INT: 33.1 ± 5.4 y CON: 31.7 ± 6.8 y | INT (n = 41) CON (n = 41) |
(a) INT, progressive program of cardiovascular exercise with a warm-up, low- impact aerobics gymnastics, fun dance and walking and a cool- down. Exercise inten- sity is not described but we assumed that low-impact exercises have moderate exercise intensity. Further- more, the patients received 20 mg of Fluoxetine (b) CON, only received 20 mg Fluoxetine |
8 weeks, 3 sessions/ week (24 training sessions); session duration increased from 45 to 60 min | BDI |
| 5 | (44) | Single-site, three- armed, randomized controlled trial | Adults, aged 18–65 years, fulfilled DSM- IV criteria for MDD, n = 62; INT: 44.7 ± 12.5 y CON: 46.3 ± 13.9 y | INT (n = 22) INT (n = 20), not in meta-analysis included CON (n = 20) |
(a) INT, aerobic exercise sessions with a warm- up phase of 5–10 min, 45 min of interval training (inten- sity 16–17 on the Borg Scale) and 5 min cool- down phase with stretching exercise (b) INT, Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) inter- vention, not involved in meta- analysis (c) CON, participants only receive once advice and moti- |
8 weeks, 2 sessions/ week (16 training sessions); each session lasted 60 min | MADRS |
| 6 | (45) | Pragmatic, randomized, controlled trial | Adults, slightly over- weight, aged 18–65 years, with ICD-10 diagnosis of depression, n = 46; 47.87 ± 10.47 | INT (n = 30) CON (n = 16) |
(a) INT, sessions with 10–15 min warm-up, 30–40 min walk- ing/running (average Borg Scale Score 11.6) and 10–15 min cool-down. Participants could self- select the exercise intensity. (b) CON, no intervention |
8 weeks, 3 ses- sions/week (24 training sessions); each session lasted 60 min | BDI-II |
| 7 | (29) | Randomized, controlled trial | Women with diagnosed de- pression (Research Diag- nostic criteria), aged 18–35 years, n = 40; 28.52 ± 4.36 | INT (n = 14) INT (n = 15) CON (n = 11) |
(a) INT, 5–10 min warm-up, walking or running with 80% of maximal work capacity on an indoor track, 5–10 min cool- down (b) INT, weight lift condition prescription CON, wait-list control group |
8 weeks, 4 ses- sions/week (32 training sessions); no general exercise duration | HRSD and BDI |
| 8 | (46) | Randomized, controlled, quasi- experi- mental trial | Female students, diagnosed with MDD, aged 18–25 years, n = 20; No mean ae | INT (n = 10) CON (n = 10) |
(a) INT, 10 min warm-up, three sets of six min running with moderate intensity (60–65% of maximal heart rate) and 3 min relax- ing between the sets. Each week, 1 min had been added to the run- ning time of each set (b) CON, asked to pursue their normal life and do not have any phys- ical activity during the intervention period |
8 weeks, 3 ses- sions/week (24 training sessions); session duration in- creased from 40 to 60 min | BDI |
| 9 | (47) | Randomized, controlled trial | Adults, fulfilled the ICD- 10 criteria for MDD, aged 18–64 years, n = 52; INT: 4362 ± 13.3 y CON: 48.81 ± 11.3 y | INT (n = 26) CON (n = 26) |
(a) INT, 10 min warm-up, an interval- training exercise regimen (upper and lower extremity exercise training) with 3 bouts of 5- min workout with an intensity of 40–59% HRR. After the 5- min workouts, participants exercised at a reduced intensity of 20–39% HRR for 5 min, making together 30 min of aero- bic interval training | 3 weeks, 5 ses- sions/week (15 training sessions); each session lasted 40 min | BDI and MADRS |
| 10 | (28) | Randomized, controlled trial | Inpatients in the Hannover Medical School, fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for MDD, n = 42; INT: 44.2 ± 8.5 y CON: 40.9 ± 11.9 y | INT (n = 22) CON (n = 20) |
(a) INT, exercise training with 25 min workout phase on a bicycle ergometer and 20 min with personal preference (cross-trainer, stepper, arm ergometer, treadmill, recumbent or rowing ergome- ter) with an intensity of 50% of maximum oxygen uptake (b) CON, could take part in the daily activity program of the ward (20 min in the morning) |
6 weeks, 3 ses- sions/week (18 training sessions); each session lasted 45 min | BDI-II and MADRS |
| 11 | (48) | An open-ran- domized, con- trolled trial | Adults, inpatients with a current antidepressant drug therapy, fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for MDD, n = 35; INT: 45.3 ± 13.2 y | INT (n = 14) INT (n = 11), not included in meta- analysis CON (n = 10) |
(a) INT, aerobic exercise group; the intervention consisted of 30 min of daily brisk walking or jogging with an exercise intensity of 65–75% of age- predicted maximal heart rate (b) INT, stretching group; not included in meta- analysis c) CON, participants received no intervention |
10 days, one ses- sion/ day (10 train- ing sessions); each session lasted 45 min | BDI-II |
| 12 | (49) | Randomized, controlled trial | Inpatients, aged 18–60 years, fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for MDD, n = 43; mean age 40 years | INT (n = 24) CON (n = 19) |
(a) INT, a program of systematic aerobic exercise consisting of 1-h training with an intensity of 50–70% of maximal work capacity (b) CON, the control group attended occupational therapy while the training group exercised |
9 weeks, 3 sessions/week (27 training sessions); each session lasted 60 min | BDI |
| 13 | (50) | Randomized, controlled trial | Outpatients, aged 18–60 years, diagnosed for MDD. n = 29; INT: 48.68 ± 2.3 year CON: 45.33 ± 3.11 year |
INT (n = 19) CON (n = 10) |
(a) INT, 5 walks per week (1 was supervised on a treadmill) with 5 km/h average speed; Participants were asked to perform the remaining 4 walks with the same intensity. All patients were medicated with antidepressants (b) CON, were not assigned to take any exercise and remained taking their usual pharmacological therapy |
12 weeks, 5 sessions/week (one was supervised); each walk lasted be- tween 30 and 45 min | HAM-D 17 |
| 14 | (51) | Randomized, controlled trial | Female smokers, aged 18- 55 years, with moderate to severe depressive symp- toms, n = 30; INT: 38.0 ± 11.0 year CON: 37.0 ± 10.0 year | INT (n = 15) CON (n = 15) |
(a) INT, participants exercised on cardiovascular equipment of their choice. Sessions comprised of a 5-min warm-up, 20–30 min of aerobic activity and 5 min cool- down. Exercise was gradually progressed from moderate to vigorous intensity. Participants started with 20 min moderate and 4 min vigorous intensity by adding weekly 2–4 min of vigorous exercise –> by week 12, participants completed 3 sessions with 30 min of vigorous intensity (b) CON, they received health education lecture and films |
12 weeks, 3 sessions/week (36 training sessions); each session lasted 30–40 min | PHQ-9 |
| 15 | (52) | Randomized, controlled clinical trial | Outpatients, aged 18 to 55 years, fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for MDD, n = 57; INT: 39.76 ± 11.6 year CON: 37.86 ± 9.85 year | INT (n = 29) CON (n = 28) |
(a) INT, exercise session consisted of continuous and intermittent aerobic activ- ity with an intensity of 60% VO2 max at the beginning. Intensity progressively increased up to 85% of VO2max at the end Furthermore, patients started with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline (50 mg/day) (b) CON, patients only had the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline (50 mg/day) |
4 weeks, 4 sessions/week (16 training sessions); no general exercise duration | BDI and HAM-D |
| 16 | (53) | Randomized, controlled trial | Aged between 65 and 85% years, sedentary, diagnosis of MDD, n = 121; INT: 75.0 ± 6.3 y INT: 75.0 ± 6.2 year CON: 75.6 ± 5.6 year | INT (n = 37) INT (n = 42) CON (n = 42) |
(a) INT, 10 min warm-up, followed by cycling with an intensity that not exceed 70% of their peak heart rate and a 5–10 min cool-down. Patients reach 50 mg Sertraline within 2 weeks (b) INT, 10 min warm-up, followed by cycling with an intensity that maintain the heart rate within the assigned training range of 60% of peak heart rate. The training scheme increased over the weeks, adapting to possible increases in peak heart rate. Patients reach 50 mg Sertraline within 2 weeks (c) CON, patients reach only 50 mg Sertraline within 2 weeks |
24 weeks, 3 sessions/week (72 training sessions); each session lasted 60 min | HRSD |
| 17 | (54) | Randomized, controlled trial | Depressed patients aged 19–58 years, n = 83; mean age 35.5 years | INT (n = 48) CON (n = 35) |
(a) INT, each session consisted of a warm-up routine and stretching exercises, followed by a running programme. Patients continued to receive the usual psychiatric treatment (supportive psychotherapy) (b) CON, Patients only continued to receive the usual psychiatric treatment as provided (supportive psychotherapy) |
12 weeks, 3 super- vised sessions/week; no exercise duration pre- scribed | BDI |