Mobility performance predicts incident depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

L L Y Chan; Y Okubo; M A Brodie; S R Lord

doi:10.1016/j.exger.2020.111116

Mobility performance predicts incident depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Exp Gerontol. 2020 Dec:142:111116. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2020.111116. Epub 2020 Oct 18.

Authors

L L Y Chan¹, Y Okubo², M A Brodie³, S R Lord⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: s.lord@neura.edu.au.

PMID: 33086078
DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2020.111116

Abstract

Impaired mobility often co-occurs with depression. However, there is no systematic review evidence as to whether mobility impairments precede the onset of depression. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate whether mobility impairment could predict incident depression. A systematic search of cohort studies were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO. The target population was people with no depressive symptoms at baseline and follow-up for depression or depressive symptoms of at least three months. Of 1061 identified abstracts, 13 studies met the review eligibility criteria. The majority of included studies (8 out of 13) were of high methodological quality. Follow-up periods ranged from 12 months to 16 years. Gait speed was the most consistently reported mobility measure. Participants with slow gait speed were at higher risk of developing depressive symptoms (pooled OR = 1.93, 95%CI: 1.54 to 2.42, 11 studies). This review shows that slow gait speed is predictive of the onset of depressive symptoms. Systematic review registration number: CRD42020153791.

Keywords: Depression; Forecasting; Mobility limitation; Walking speed.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Cohort Studies
Depression* / diagnosis
Depression* / epidemiology
Humans
Walking Speed*