SynthesisScientific reports2023
Physical exercise and major depressive disorder in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association Between Physical Activity, Heart Rate Variability and Major Depressive Disorders: An Umbrella Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Physical Activity interventions on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in major depressive disorder (MDD): a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of physiotherapy techniques on depressive symptoms in older adults: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- EPA guidance on lifestyle interventions for adults with severe mental illness: A meta-review of the evidence.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2024Pooled it
- Stationary Cycling Exercise With Virtual Reality to Reduce Depressive Symptoms Among People With Mild to Moderate Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Treadmill Exercise in Rats Attenuates Chronic Unpredictable Stress-Induced Depressive-like Behavior Associated with Melatonin-SIRT1/Nrf2 Signaling in the Prefrontal Cortex.Physiological research · 2026Article
- Long-Term Flywheel Resistance Training Enhances Cognitive Flexibility in Older Women: A 36-Week Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Article
- Evolution of Exercise Training in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension-A Comprehensive Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Differential impacts of job-relatedWorld journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- The association between physical activity and depressive symptoms in adolescents: the serial mediating roles of school connectedness and self-control.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Kynurenine Pathway Metabolites as Mediators of Exercise-Induced Mood Enhancement, Fatigue Resistance, and Neuroprotection.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Effect and acceptability of different exercise modes on adult patients with clinically diagnosed depression: a network meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Physical exercise moderates the mediating effect of depression between physical and psychological abuse in childhood and social network addiction in college students.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Noradrenergic Projections from the Locus Coeruleus to the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Stress Coping Behavior in Mice Following Long-Term Intermittent Fasting.Neuromolecular medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess the benefits and potential risks associated with different physical exercise modalities for managing symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder who were not receiving second-generation antidepressants or cognitive behavioral therapy. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted. The search included multiple databases: Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Clinical Trials repository, gray literature, and manual search. No language restrictions were applied. Eligible studies involved RCTs of adults with major depressive disorder who were not on antidepressants or receiving psychological therapy, comparing various exercise modalities with second-generation antidepressants or cognitive behavioral therapy, body-mind exercise, or no exercise interventions. Nine RCTs involving 678 adults were analyzed. The pooled results indicated a small clinical effect favoring exercise in reducing depressive symptoms, although the difference was not statistically significant (SMD = 0.27, 95% CI [- 0.58, 0.04], P = 0.09). Subgroup analyses suggested that intervention duration, frequency, intensity, supervision, age, overweight/obesity status, and diagnosis of depression could influence treatment outcomes. A sensitivity analysis was conducted for studies with controls without exercise interventions and a low risk of bias in the domains related to the randomization process and deviations from the intended interventions. The results showed that there are no statistically significant differences when interventions are compared with medication and body-mind exercise (p = 0.12, I
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.