Depressive disorder is common in many adult women in the world. It was found that depressive disorder was related to stress and suicidal ideation in Korean adult women with depressive disorder. Physical activities were effective to solve this mental disorder. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of physical activity (PA) on the stress and suicidal ideation of Korean adult women with depressive disorder. A sample of 1315 Korean adult women who have depressive disorder was collected, and the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) was used to determine this purpose of the study. The complex samples in frequency analysis were used to identify the characteristics of the participants. The logistic regression in the complex sample design was conducted to investigate the effects of PA on the stress and suicidal ideation in Korean adult women with depressive disorder. The effects of flexibility exercise on the stress in Korean adult women with depressive disorder showed the odds ratio (OR) value of 1.434 (OR = 1.434, 95% CI = 1.043-1.973, p < 0.05). The effects of flexibility exercise on the suicidal ideation in Korean adult women with depressive disorder presented the OR value of 0.682 (OR = 0.682, 95% CI = 0.496-0.937, p < 0.05). Based on the results, the participants who did flexibility exercises were likely to have less stress and suicidal ideation than the Korean adult women with depressive disorder who did not participate in flexibility exercise. In conclusion, the flexibility exercise has played an important role in reducing and preventing stress and suicidal ideation in Korean adult women with depressive disorder.
Keywords: Korean adult women; depressive disorder; physical activity; stress; suicidal ideation.