Depression may cause patients to become less physically active

A new research review finds that feelings of depression could be one reason patients fail to follow their doctors’ orders on exercising and eventually become less physically active.

Although past research shows that exercise improves chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, it also shows that patients with these conditions often suffer from depression.

The new analysis evaluated 11 studies comprising some 20,000 patients. Eight studies reported that having symptoms of depression after a coronary event, such as heart attack, was a significant risk factor for developing a sedentary lifestyle or a poor adherence to an exercise regimen recommended by the patients’ doctor.

The review appears in the July/August issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.