Exercise habits in adolescence and old age are positively associated with geriatric depressive symptoms: the Bunkyo Health Study

Introduction: Exercise is a crucial method for preventing geriatric depression. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the associations between exercise habits in adolescence and old age and geriatric depressive symptoms. Methods: This study used baseline data from the Bunkyo Health Study, a prospective observational cohort study investigating the preventive effects of physical activity on causative diseases requiring long-term care. This analysis included 1,629 older adults (687 men and 942 women) aged 65-84 years who participated in the Bunkyo Health Study. Participants were divided into four groups according to their exercise habits in adolescence and old age: never exercised (none-none; NN), exercised only in old age (none-active; NA), exercised only in adolescence (active-none; AN), and exercised in adolescence and old age (active-active; AA). Geriatric depressive symptoms were defined as the short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale score ≥ 5, including depression tendency. Multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and associated 95% confidence intervals in each group for the prevalence of geriatric depressive symptoms compared with the NN group. Results: The ORs for geriatric depressive symptoms were notably lower in the AN, NA, and AA groups than in the NN group in both older men and older women. Conclusion: These results indicate that older adults with exercise habits in adolescence and/or in old age exhibit a lower prevalence of geriatric depressive symptoms.