Does Exercise Alleviate Clinical Depression in Older Adults A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Studies 2000 – 2006

Scientific Journal of Social Work: Applied Studies and Researches, 1:73–90, 2015 Copyright © Faculty of Social Work – Assiut University- Egypt ISSN: 2356 – 9794 Does Exercise Alleviate Clinical Depression in Older Adults?  A Meta­Analysis of Randomized Studies:  2000 – 2006 Jann Cox In-Soo Shin University of Texas at Austin, USA Jeon-Ju University, Republic of Korea Bruce A Thyer Stephanie Grace Prost Florida State University, USA & North-West Florida State University, USA University, Republic of South Africa ——————————  —————————— Abstract Background: Among older adults, exercise has been shown to reduce costs for health care, limit injury, decrease heart disease and obesity, and to impact affect However, exercise has yet to receive attention in the social work literature as an effective intervention for clinical depression Method: Randomized experimental studies of exercise and follow-up with clinically depressed samples of older adults between 2000-2006 were included (n = 26) A comprehensive literature search was conducted and standardized effect sizes calculated for overall effect and several secondary measures (e.g., group assignment, duration, type of exercise) Results: The overall mean change effect size was moderate -0.46 (p < 0.0001) for treatment versus control and comparison group effects Conclusion: Regular exercise can support remission from clinical depression in older adult clients and protect from relapse Promoting regular exercise among depressed elderly clients is an empiricallysupported intervention which may be useful in social work practice Keywords: exercise, depression, older adults, meta-analysis SJSWASR © 2015