ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2016
Exercise is medicine for patients with major depressive disorders: but only if the "pill" is taken!
Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association Between Physical Activity, Heart Rate Variability and Major Depressive Disorders: An Umbrella Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Physical Activity Promotes Health and Reduces Cardiovascular Mortality in Depressed Populations: A Literature Overview.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Influence of Regular Physical Activity and Fitness on Stress Reactivity as Measured with the Trier Social Stress Test Protocol: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2018Pooled it
- Effects of multicomponent exercise on quality of life, coping with stress, and psychological well-being in aged women: a randomized controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2026Trial
- Long-term outcomes of physical activity counseling in in-patients with major depressive disorder: results from the PACINPAT randomized controlled trial.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Article
- Residual depression symptoms following nature-based exercise therapies among U.S. service members.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Perceived exertion as a moderator of psychological changes during nature-based exercise among U.S. service members.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Effect of combined aerobic and resistance training with self-selected intensity on clinical parameters and fitness in a patient with mixed anxiety and depressive disorder: a case report.Journal of medical case reports · 2025Article
- Correspondence between the Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ) and accelerometer-based physical activity in inpatients treated for major depressive disorders in comparison to non-depressed controls.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Differences in Selective Attention and Inhibitory Control in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder and Healthy Controls Who Do Not Engage in Sufficient Physical Activity.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Physical Activity Patterns, Circadian Rhythms, and Aggressive and Suicidal Behavior among a Larger Sample of the General Population Aged 15 to 34 Years.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- The Effectiveness of Internet-Guided Self-help Interventions to Promote Physical Activity Among Individuals With Depression: Systematic Review.JMIR mental health · 2022Review
- Exercise interventions for stress reduction in older adult populations: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Health psychology and behavioral medicine · 2022Review
- Problem Solving Therapy Improves Effortful Cognition in Major Depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- No Evidence of Systematic Change of Physical Activity Patterns Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic and Related Mood States Among Iranian Adults Attending Team Sports Activities.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Psychosocial Health and Physical Activity in People With Major Depression in the Context of COVID-19.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2021Article
- Physiotherapy and Physical Activity as Factors Improving the Psychological State of Patients With Cancer.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Review
- The Effect of Swimming on Anxiety-Like Behaviors and Corticosterone in Stressed and Unstressed Rats.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Cortisol Stress Reactivity in Response to the Trier Social Stress Test in Inpatients with Major Depressive Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Major depressive disorders (MDDs) are a widespread and burdensome mental illness associated with a high comorbidity with other conditions and a significantly reduced life expectancy compared to the general population. Therefore, targeted actions are needed to improve physical health in people with MDDs, in addition to ongoing efforts to enhance psychological well-being. Meanwhile, the positive effects of exercise training on the treatment of MDDs are well documented, while compelling evidence exists that exercise interventions can improve cardiorespiratory fitness in clinically meaningful ways. On the flipside, the long-term effects of exercise therapy are still not well documented, and recent studies suggest that initial improvements in MDDs dissipate if regular exercise participation is discontinued after the end of interventions. A recent survey among Swiss psychiatric hospitals further shows that all institutions provide some form of physical activity and exercise program. However, only a limited number of patients participate in these programs, mainly because participation is voluntary and no particular efforts are undertaken to engage patients with the lowest physical activity levels. We argue that more systematic efforts are needed to fully exploit the potential of physical activity and exercise programs in psychiatric care. We also emphasize that initiating and maintaining regular physical activity among psychiatric patients is a major challenge because specific dysfunctional cognitive-emotional processes might interfere with their capacity to self-regulate health-related behaviors. Specifically, we claim that behavioral skill training should be used to support patients with MDDs in overcoming barriers to initiating and maintaining physical activity. Moreover, we suggest that the assessment of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness should become routine in psychiatric practice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.