Abstract
In the Upper Bavarian Field Study a representative community sample of 1,536 persons
(from 15 years of age and upwards) was interviewed by research psychiatrists. Twenty-seven
percent of the respondents reported taking regular and 26.2% occasional physical exercise.
Physical inactivity as well as depression were significantly associated with the female
gender, increasing age, low socioeconomic status and the presence of a somatic disorder.
Using a logistic regression model, the relation between physical activity and depression
was measured by the odds ratio with subjects reporting regular physical activity as
the reference group. Cross-sectional analysis revealed that after controlling for
potential confounder variables the odds ratio for depression was, at 3.15, significantly
higher for the physically inactive compared to the regular exercisers. The odds ratio
for the group practising occasionally (1.55) was also elevated but not statistically
significant. 87.3% of the subjects who participated in the baseline study were reinterviewed
five years later. In contrast to the cross-sectional findings, low physical activity
at wave 1 was not a risk factor for developing depression at wave 2.
Key words
Physical exercise - depression - community
