Can remotely supervised exercise positively affect self-reported depressive symptoms and physical activity levels during social distancing?. (July 2021) - Moreira-Neto, Acácio
Highlights: Social distancing impairs mental health and decreases the physical activity levels. Impaired mental health is associated with decreased physical activity levels. Better mental health depends on the exercise practice. Higher vigorous physical activity depends on the supervised exercise practice. Supervised telehealth has higher vigorous physical activity than self-guided exercise. Abstracts: The main objective of this cross-sectional study was to compare the self-reported depressive symptoms and physical activity (PA) levels among participants who performed self- nonexercising (NE), guided exercise (SGE), remotely supervised exercise (RSE), and face-to-face supervised exercise (FFE) during social distancing. Three hundred and forty-four individuals (≥18 years and 67% women) answered a self-reported online survey that included questions related to the physical exercise practice (e.g., supervised and remote) during social distancing and questions about perceptions of depressive symptoms (Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale–Self Rated [MADRS-S] scores) and metabolic equivalent task minutes per week (METs minwk -1 ) of moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA, and total PA scores (International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form) before and during social distancing. The RSE group (n=45) showed higher METs of vigorous-intensity PA than the SGE (n=146) and NE (n=109) groups. The RSE and FFE (n=44) groups showed higher METs of the total PA scores than the SGE and NE groups. The NE group showed higher MADRS-S scores than the other groups. Lower MADRS-S scores depend on the exercise practice and higher METs of vigorous-intensity PA depend on the supervised exercise practice. Thus, telehealth interventions can be implemented during the pandemic to enhance vigorous PA.