References

Christensen J, Trabjerg BB, Wagner RG Prevalence of epilepsy: a population-based cohort study in Denmark with comparison to Global Burden of Disease (GBD) prevalence estimates. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2024; 0:1-10 https://doi.org/10.1136

Deprato A, Ruchat S-M, Ali MU Impact of postpartum physical activity on maternal depression and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2024; 0:1-12 https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-108478

Luo Y, Wang Y, Guo J Sex differences in associations of daily stair climbing, genetic predisposition, and risk of cardiovascular disease among 389,973 UK adults. Public Health. 2025; 239:9-14 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2024.12.030

Yoshida-Kohno E, Fueki K, Wanigatunga AA Social Relationships and Tooth Loss in Adults Aged 60 Years and Older: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2024; 0:1-10 https://doi.org/10.1111/cdoe.13011

RESEARCH ROUNDUP

02 February 2025
Volume 36 · Issue 2

Abstract

George Winter provides an overview of recently published articles that may be of interest to practice nurses. Should you wish to look at any of the papers in more detail, a full reference is provided.

Depression and anxiety disorders are reported to affect 19% and 13% of postpartum individuals, respectively. However, since it has been demonstrated that physical activity improves depression and anxiety outcomes in non-pregnant populations, Deprato et al (2024) undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the relationship between postpartum exercise and depression and anxiety outcomes.

The authors evaluated 35 studies, which included 4072 participants, and found that moderate-certainty evidence from randomised controlled trials showed that exercise-only interventions reduced the severity of postpartum depressive and anxiety symptoms. In addition, the odds of postpartum depression were reduced by 45% compared with no exercise. It was found that ‘[i]nitiating the exercise intervention prior to 12 weeks postpartum was associated with a greater reduction in postpartum depressive symptoms.’

A MET is the ratio of an individual's working metabolic rate relative to their resting metabolic rate and is a means of describing the intensity of an exercise or any activity. The authors recommend that to achieve a moderate effect size in reducing the severity of depressive symptoms, postpartum individuals should undertake at least 350 MET-min/week of exercise. For example, ‘80 min of moderate intensity exercise such as brisk walking, water aerobics, stationary cycling, resistance training over a minimum of 4 days per week.’

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