A randomized controlled trial of exercise to improve mood after traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that a structured aerobic exercise regimen would decrease the severity of depressive symptoms in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who reported at least mild depression severity at baseline.


METHODS
Prospective, randomized, controlled trial.


METHODS
Community gymnasium.


METHODS
Subjects with a history of a prior TBI (6 months to 5 years post-injury), recruited from the community. Inclusion criteria included scoring ≥ 5 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Subjects were excluded if they were non-English speakers, had a medical condition precluding exercise, had suicidal ideation, regularly exercised, or could not use standard aerobic exercise equipment.


METHODS
Weekly supervised exercise sessions over a 10-week period consisted of education, warm-up, 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, and cool down. The exercise intensity was adjusted to reach a heart rate goal of 60% of the participant's estimated maximal heart rate.


METHODS
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) comparing exercise to control groups. Post hoc analyses compared groups exercising ≥ 90 minutes or <90 minutes per week.


RESULTS
Between-group comparisons at 10 weeks revealed no difference between groups on the BDI (P = .250). For the groups divided by minutes exercised per week, the high-activity group had significantly better depression scores than those in the low-activity group (P = .033).


CONCLUSIONS
Although there was no statistically significant difference between the treated and the control group on mood after intervention, those persons with TBI who recounted higher levels of exercise per week also reported less depression and improved sleep, community participation, and overall quality of life.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Box 356490, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. jeanneh@uw.edu
Jeanne M
JM
Hoffman
Kathleen R
KR
Bell
Janet M
JM
Powell
James
J
Behr
Erin C
EC
Dunn
Sureyya
S
Dikmen
Charles H
CH
Bombardier
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life