761 Associations between Depression and Guidelines Met for Physical Activity and Sufficient Sleep in an International Sample
Abstract Introduction Physical activity (PA) and sleep both influence symptoms of depression. Here we explored relationships between guidelines met for physical activity and sleep and how this related to depression scores. Methods N=23,663 respondents (age range 18–98, mean age 40.1y, 51% female) completed the 10-item Harvard Department of Psychiatry National Depression Screening Day Scale (HANDS) online during one week in October from 2018–2020. Higher total scores on the HANDS indicated a higher likelihood of major depressive episode. Additional questions were added to the survey including questions on sleep duration and moderate to strenuous PA. The cut-off guidelines for PA were 150 weekly minutes and 7-9h of sleep per night. We categorized the sample based on those who met PA guidelines or not and whether respondents had short sleep duration (9h), or met the sleep guidelines (7-9h). Results One-way ANOVA revealed differences between the groups on HANDS depression score F(5,23657)=262.5, p<0.001. Nearly half of the sample did not meet both PA guidelines or sleep guidelines of 7-9h (N=10,776; 45.5%). The lowest depression scores were associated with those who met both PA and sleep guidelines (8.3 depression score) compared to those with the highest scores who exceeded sleep recommendations (>9h) and did not meet PA guidelines (14.1 depression score). In addition, met sleep guidelines (10.0) appeared to have a bigger influence than met PA guidelines (11.1) in the absence of the other guideline being met on depression score. Conclusion We found those who met both sleep and PA guidelines had the lowest depression scores with those who exceeded the sleep guidelines and did not meet PA recommendations had the highest depression scores. Future research on depression could focus on interventions aimed at improving adherence to both PA and sleep guidelines. Support (if any):