O efeito do exercício na força muscular de pessoas com depressão: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Physical exercise can lead to a reduction in depressive symptoms seeking to contribute to the maintenance of physical and mental health, exerting beneficial effects in the treatment of depression. Although, physical exercise is capable of promoting increases in muscle mass in adults without depression, review studies evaluating the effects of physical exercise on muscle strength in people with depression are scarce. The purpose of this study is, through a systematic review, to evaluate the effects of physical exercise on muscle strength in people with depression. The data were searched in the following databases: MEDLINE (Pubmed), SportDiscus, Embase, and PsycINFO. The search was for intervention studies (randomized controlled trials) in people with depression, which compared the effects of exercise to that of a control group without exercise. The initial search yielded 6,577 publications, and after removing duplicates, 5,385 titles and abstracts were analyzed. In the next step, 38 studies were read in their entirety and of these, 33 were excluded, leaving for analysis 5 studies that met the inclusion criteria of the present review. One study evaluated a population of 32 elderly people diagnosed with depression. Participants in the intervention group showed an increase in muscle strength of 33% approximately (+/-) 4% when compared to the control group, which showed a decrease of 2% +/- 2%. Another 10-week intervention showed significant results regarding muscle strength gains. The intervention group had a 105% increase in the bench press exercise and an 86% increase in the leg press exercise, compared to the control group, which maintained 21% in both exercises. Another study showed an increase in the loads of the post-intervention exercises for supine 4.0 kg, knee extension 7.5 kg, and leg press 18.3 kg compared to the relaxation group that did not perform either strength or endurance intervention. Strength and high resistance training is an important ally in the treatment of depression because depressed individuals present an increase in muscle strength, significant changes in quality of life, and a decrease in depressive symptoms.