Exercise as an add-on strategy for the treatment of major depressive disorder: a systematic review.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review of clinical studies evaluating an adjunctive intervention
PubMed 24589012 · doi:10.1017/S1092852913000953
What was done
Authors conducted a systematic review across PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, and Scopus to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise as an adjunctive treatment combined with antidepressants for major depressive disorder. Database searches retrieved 22 full-text articles, of which 13 studies met inclusion criteria.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, or statistical metrics. It qualitatively states that the 13 included studies showed a strong effectiveness of exercise combined with antidepressants in MDD, despite methodological weaknesses present in the majority of the studies.
Why it matters
While most prior research evaluated exercise as an alternative monotherapy to antidepressants, this review evaluates exercise specifically as an add-on strategy, which more closely reflects clinical practice for patients with incomplete response or treatment resistance.
Limits
The abstract notes that the majority of the 13 included studies had methodological weaknesses. No specific sample sizes, participant characteristics, exercise types or doses, or quantitative effect sizes are reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Exercise has been shown across multiple studies to improve depressive symptoms in clinical and treatment-resistant major depressive disorder.