The effects of 60 minutes of supervised weekly walking (in a single vs. 3–5 session format) on depressive symptoms among older women: Findings from a pilot randomized trial

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of training frequency on psychological benefits resulting from a walking program among older women with subsyndromal depression.MethodsAll participants were randomly assigned to a 4-week-long self-paced walking program including one (G1) or three to five (G3–5) weekly training sessions. They completed the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) as a measure of depressive symptoms during the intervention and one month later.ResultsUsing statistics for small-n designs, it appeared that, at the end of the program, a significantly greater proportion of women in G3–5 reported GDS values below the cutoff score of 10 (i.e., indicative of the absence of any depressive symptoms) compared to women in G1 (5 of 6 vs. 1 of 6; Φ2 = 0.48; p < .05). The GDS scores after treatment were significantly lower than baseline scores in both groups (Z = 2.20; p < .03, and Z = 1.99; p < .05 respectively), but the mean decrease of depressive symptoms was significantly larger in G3-5 (48.9%) than in G1 (22.7%).ConclusionBreaking 60 min of weekly walking into shorter periods on 3–5 days a week appears to be more effective to alleviate depressive symptoms in older women with subsyndromal depression.