Physical exercise protocols and their effect on the parameters that measure improvement in patients diagnosed with depression. Systematic review

Abstract

Depression is a common mental disorder, it is estimated that it affects more than 350 million people in the world. Some studies have shown that individuals who are doing more physical activity would reduce the symptoms of depression. Objective: to determine which physical exercise methodology generates the greatest effects in adult patients with depressive disorders. Material and methods: PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus were searched. The eligibility criteria were established based on the PICO acronym of randomized and controlled studies published between 2010 and 2020: (P) adults between 18 and 64 years of age, (I) systematic physical exercise, (C) no physical activity and / or the combination with the use of drugs, (O) effects of systematic physical exercise on the parameters that measure depression. Results: 10242 articles were identified, of which only 16 met the inclusion criteria. Conclusion: It is not possible to ascertain which modality generates the greatest benefits in adult patients with depression. What is shown is that the aerobic exercise modality is the most studied and used. More comparative studies between the different exercise modalities are needed to be able to assess whether or not this difference exists.