Exercise for reducing depressive symptoms in postpartum depression

Abstract

Overview of Topic: Approximately 1 out of 8 postpartum mothers experience depressive symptoms, affecting around 10-15% of mothers yearly. Postpartum depression (PPD) does not only affect the mother but affects their loved ones as well. It can be treated/prevented with non/pharmacologic interventions, such as exercise. This dissertation aims to study whether exercise is effective in reducing depressive symptoms in PPD. Research Question: Is exercise effective in reducing depressive symptoms in women with symptoms of Postpartum Depression? PICO Elements: The population under study involved women with symptoms of PPD. The intervention consisted of carrying out exercise while the comparison involves no exercise. The outcome under review was reduced depressive symptoms. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: The review included postpartum women experiencing depressive symptoms while women with antenatal depression were excluded. Articles were accepted if they were published in the last 10 years, written in English and compared exercise-only interventions with no exercise. Methods: The PICO elements were utilised as key terms to produce alternative terms. These were combined with boolean operators, truncations and wildcards. Databases used were EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Pubmed and Scopus. The PRISMA 2020 framework served as a guideline for the extraction of articles. The respective CASP tools were used throughout appraisal. Results: This review includes four RCTs and one SR/Meta-Analysis (MA), however, findings were inconsistent. Four studies deduced a significant difference in reduction of depressive symptoms after performing exercise. Only one study did not conclude a statistically significant difference. Conclusion: A definite conclusion of the research question cannot be deduced. Some evidence show the improved effectiveness of exercise when compared to no exercise in reducing depressive symptoms in postpartum women with symptoms of PPD. Implications & Recommendations: Important recommendations for further research include longer follow-up periods, larger sample sizes and conceal randomisation. Recommendations for practice consist of routine screening, workshops and postpartum women undergoing the behavior approach. Recommendations for education involve enhancing PPD knowledge and awareness. Recommendations for management consist of an increase in staffing levels and training, development of a research group and allocation of finances.