Table 2

Depression symptoms associated with physical activity: adjusted OR and heterogeneity

	Contrast	K (N)	OR	95% CI	Q	I² (95% CI)
Region
North America		64 (32)	0.81****	0.75 to 0.86	910.6****	93.2 (92.6 to 93.7)
Europe		73 (37)	0.78****	0.73 to 0.83	306.6****	88.6 (87.0 to 90.0)
Asia		29 (16)	0.73****	0.66 to 0.81	109.9****	75.4 (70.5 to 79.5)
Australia		13 (6)	0.83*	0.72 to 0.96	30.3**	63.7 (50.5 to 73.4)
Gender
Females only	1	50 (23)	0.78****	0.71 to 0.85	309.5****	84.5 (82.5 to 86.3)
Males only	−1	23 (13)	0.80****	0.70 to 0.92	352.0****	94.0 (93.2 to 94.8)
Mixed (54% female, 8%–94%, IQR=46%–57%)	0	106 (65)	0.79****	0.75 to 0.82	429.1****	75.8 (73.4 to 77.9)
Age (years)
18–44	1	58 (20)	0.81****	0.76 to 0.87	241.8****	76.8 (73.8 to 79.6)
45–64	2	55 (35)	0.77****	0.72 to 0.82	624.7****	91.5 (90.7 to 92.3)
65+	3	66 (37)	0.81**	0.70 to 0.93	328.7****	80.5 (78.2.82.6)
Adjustments
Age, sex, demographics	1	20 (13)	0.81****	0.75 to 0.88	672.6****	97.3 (97.0 to 97.6)
Plus modifiable risks	2	42 (22)	0.80****	0.73 to 0.86	128.7****	68.9 (63.5 to 73.5)
Plus chronic disease or disability	3	117 (56)	0.77****	0.73 to 0.82	568.6****	79.8 (78.0 to 81.4)
Study quality
Low	1	28 (16)	0.80**	0.71 to 0.91	49.6**	47.6 (34.4 to 58.1)
Acceptable	2	93 (50)	0.79****	0.75 to 0.83	1121.0****	91.9 (91.3 to 92.5)
Good	3	58 (26)	0.77****	0.72 to 0.82	216.5****	74.1 (70.6.77.3)
Study design
Baseline exposure and incident cases	−0.5	74 (36)	0.80****	0.76 to 0.85	938.7****	92.3 (91.7 to 92.9)
Baseline exposure and change in symptoms	−0.5	55 (34)	0.81****	0.76 to 0.86	201.7****	73.7 (70.0 to 77.0)
Change in exposure and incident cases	0.5	18 (8)	0.64***	0.52 to 0.79	23.1	30.7 (7.2 to 48.3)
Change in exposure and change in symptoms	0.5	32 (18)	0.71**	0.55 to 0.91	231.6****	87.1 (85.0 to 88.8)
PA measure
Frequency	−0.5	66 (35)	0.79****	0.73 to 0.84	239.3****	73.3 (69.8 to 76.3)
Time or distance	−0.5	21 (14)	0.78***	0.69 to 0.87	79.6****	76.1 (70.4 to 80.8)
Meeting guidelines (sufficient)	0.5	20 (7)	0.88****	0.86 to 0.91	82.4****	78.2 (72.9 to 82.4)
Metabolic equivalent	0.5	72 (36)	0.78****	0.73 to 0.83	1013.1****	93.1 (92.5 to 93.6)
PA domain
Leisure time	−0.5	145 (71)	0.80****	0.77 to 0.83	687.8****	79.2 (77.6 to 80.7)
Total	0.5	34 (20)	0.72**	0.65 to 0.80	192.9****	30.9 (14.3 to 44.2)
Depression measure
Symptoms	−1	51 (27)	0.78****	0.72 to 0.86	260.5****	81.2 (78.7 to 83.4)
Screening cut-point	0.33	111 (53)	0.79****	0.75 to 0.83	455.4****	76.1 (73.8 to 78.1)
Self-reported diagnosis	0.33	6 (4)	0.77****	0.69 to 0.85	76.2****	94.8 (92.9 to 96.1)
Clinical diagnosis	0.33	11 (7)	0.79****	0.73 to 0.86	9.1	1.1 (00.0 to 8.3)
Exposure dose
Binary or correlation	0	93 (64)	0.80****	0.76 to 0.84	459.1****	80.2 (78.2 to 82.0)
Low	−1	33 (26)	0.84****	0.78 to 0.90	170.1****	81.8 (78.7 to 84.4)
Moderate	0.5	31 (24)	0.72****	0.67 to 0.78	142.7****	79.7 (76.0 to 82.8)
High	0.5	22 (11)	0.76****	0.69 to 0.83	67.9****	70.5 (63.2 to 76.4)
Recommended exposure
Not meeting guidelines	−1	35 (21)	0.82****	0.73 to 0.92	129.0****	74.4 (69.8 to 78.4)
Not reported	0	105 (59)	0.78****	0.73 to 0.82	499.6****	79.4 (77.5 to 81.2)
Meeting guidelines	1	39 (23)	0.77****	0.73 to 0.81	179.0****	79.3 (76.0 to 82.2)

K is number of effects and N is number of studies for each category or level of each modifier.
Significant at *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, ****p<0.0001.
IQR, interquartile range; PA, physical activity.