Changes in depression status in low socioeconomic perinatal subjects in rural India after supervised physical exercise: A randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND: Perinatal depression is a major public health problem, affecting up to a quarter of all pregnant women in rural Asean countries and often leads to psychologic symptoms, lower quality of life, and higher health care costs. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of supervised physical exercise on depression level of perinatal subjects. SUBJECTS/INTERVENTION: 60 subjects who fulfill the selection criteria were randomly assigned to exercise (Group-1, n=30) and control group (Group-2, n=30). Participants completed general screening form and Physical health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) before their intervention and again 4 weeks and 8 weeks later. Group-1 underwent aerobic training with 60-65% maximum heart rate and Group-2 was prescribed with handouts for 4 weeks. STATISTICS: Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was use to analyze group differences over time while controlling for baseline differences. RESULTS: Demographic and the baseline values show homogenous population (P>0.05). Patients in both groups experienced significant reduction in depression level. Group A showed reduction of 91.70% (P=0.00) as compared to Group B 69.01% (P=0.00). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that supervised physical exercise provides better improvement in depression status in perinatal subjects than providing handouts alone.