Mats Hallgren1, Thi-Thuy-Dung Nguyen2, Matthew P Herring3, Cillian P McDowell3, Brett R Gordon3, Brendon Stubbs4, Rino Bellocco5, Ylva Trolle Lagerros6. 1. Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Solna 171 77, Sweden. Electronic address: mats.hallgren@ki.se. 2. Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Solna 171 77, Sweden. 3. Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. 4. Physiotherapy Department, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, United Kingdom; Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom. 5. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy. 6. Department of Medicine, Clinic of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Solna, Sweden.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Regular physical activity (PA) is associated with less self-reported anxiety, but prospective studies linked to clinician diagnoses of anxiety disorder remain scarce. We examined whether the PA levels recommended for general health are related to anxiety symptoms and disorders. METHOD: In total, 43,863 Swedish adults were surveyed in 1997 and responses linked to medical registers until 2010. Weekly durations of habitual moderate and vigorous leisure time PA were self-reported. Cross-sectional and prospective relationships between the total duration (minutes) of PA, 0-149 ('below'), 150-299 ('achieve'), and ≥300 min ('exceed') with self-reported anxiety symptoms and incident anxiety disorder were explored. Associations were explored using logistic and Cox proportional hazard regression models. RESULTS: Of 27,053 participants with complete data (mean age = 49.0 years, SD = 15.9, 66% female), 76% met the recommended duration of PA (≥150 min), and 38% exceeded this duration. At baseline, 2573 participants (9.5%) reported elevated anxiety symptoms. In cross-sectional analyses, engaging in ≥150 min of MVPA/week was associated with 24% (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.68-0.86) lower odds of anxiety symptoms. Exceeding the weekly duration was associated with 36% (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.57-0.72) lower odds. During the 13-year follow-up, 198 incident cases of anxiety disorder (0.8%) were identified. No significant prospective relationships were found. CONCLUSIONS: Engaging in leisure time PA at levels recommended for general health may reduce the risk of elevated anxiety symptoms. As the incidence of anxiety disorder was likely under-estimated, further prospective studies are needed to determine the relationship between PA and incident anxiety disorder.
OBJECTIVE: Regular physical activity (PA) is associated with less self-reported anxiety, but prospective studies linked to clinician diagnoses of anxiety disorder remain scarce. We examined whether the PA levels recommended for general health are related to anxiety symptoms and disorders. METHOD: In total, 43,863 Swedish adults were surveyed in 1997 and responses linked to medical registers until 2010. Weekly durations of habitual moderate and vigorous leisure time PA were self-reported. Cross-sectional and prospective relationships between the total duration (minutes) of PA, 0-149 ('below'), 150-299 ('achieve'), and ≥300 min ('exceed') with self-reported anxiety symptoms and incident anxiety disorder were explored. Associations were explored using logistic and Cox proportional hazard regression models. RESULTS: Of 27,053 participants with complete data (mean age = 49.0 years, SD = 15.9, 66% female), 76% met the recommended duration of PA (≥150 min), and 38% exceeded this duration. At baseline, 2573 participants (9.5%) reported elevated anxiety symptoms. In cross-sectional analyses, engaging in ≥150 min of MVPA/week was associated with 24% (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.68-0.86) lower odds of anxiety symptoms. Exceeding the weekly duration was associated with 36% (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.57-0.72) lower odds. During the 13-year follow-up, 198 incident cases of anxiety disorder (0.8%) were identified. No significant prospective relationships were found. CONCLUSIONS: Engaging in leisure time PA at levels recommended for general health may reduce the risk of elevated anxiety symptoms. As the incidence of anxiety disorder was likely under-estimated, further prospective studies are needed to determine the relationship between PA and incident anxiety disorder.