Effects of a physical activity intervention on perceived stress, fatigue, and depressive symptoms in older adults: A secondary analysis of the LIFE Study

Emily J Smail; Christopher N Kaufmann; Abby C King; Mark A Espeland; Stephen Anton; Todd M Manini

doi:10.1093/gerona/glae290

Effects of a physical activity intervention on perceived stress, fatigue, and depressive symptoms in older adults: A secondary analysis of the LIFE Study

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024 Dec 20:glae290. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glae290. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Emily J Smail¹, Christopher N Kaufmann¹, Abby C King², Mark A Espeland³, Stephen Anton⁴, Todd M Manini¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Florida.
² Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, and Department of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center), Stanford University School of Medicine.
³ Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University.
⁴ Department of Physiology and Aging, College of Medicine, University of Florida.

PMID: 39704362
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glae290

Abstract

Background: Engaging in physical activity is critical for maintaining well-being in older adults, particularly those at heightened risk for mobility disability. We assessed the effects of a physical activity (PA) intervention on perceived stress, fatigue, and depressive symptoms compared to a health education (HE) program in older adults with mobility challenges and evaluated differential effects of the interventions among those with the poorest self-rated mental health at baseline.

Methods: Secondary data analysis of the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) Study, a single-blinded, parallel randomized controlled trial conducted between February 2010 and December 2013. The PA intervention included walking, strength exercises, balance training, and flexibility activities. The HE intervention consisted of workshops on health topics for older adults. The main outcomes for our analysis included standardized scales with participants self-reporting their stress, fatigue, and depressive symptoms at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months post-randomization.

Results: Results from the 1,495 participants (Mage = 78 years; 66% female in both groups) showed no significant between-group differences in perceived stress, fatigue, or depressive symptom scores over time. However, in both intervention groups, participants with worse baseline scores showed a steady improvement in symptom scores over time compared to the remaining participants, who showed some decline (p-value for interaction<0.05).

Conclusions: Among mobility-impaired individuals, a long-duration, group-based PA intervention had no more impact on stress, fatigue, or depressive symptoms compared to a group-based HE intervention. However, participants with higher symptoms at baseline showed improvement over time in both intervention groups.

Keywords: mental health; physical activity; stress.

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