Mental health issues increase in society and in an effort to mitigate this problem, the Swedish government aims to facilitate physical activity among the citizens. And our newly published study confirms that this may be an efficient strategy, although we still need to know more about other factors interacting with the level of physical activity and mental wellbeing.
Skiers compared to the general population
The study follows almost 200 000 individuals that participated in the Vasaloppet ski race. These persons are matched for the same sex and age with an equal amount of controls from the general Swedish population. Thereafter, these individuals were followed during a period of up to 21 years.
The more physically active skiers had around 60% lower risk of developing anxiety disorders compared to the general population. This association was seen both among men and women. And the relationship remained even if individuals developing the disorder during the first five years.
The advantage of this epidemiological study type is that clear patterns playing an important role at the populational level can be discovered in a relatively cheap and non-invasive way. These discoveries can thereafter be investigated more in-depth in more specific study populations of smaller sizes to really elucidate what is causing more or less anxiety.
Physical performance level matters to women
Among the skiers, we also evaluated whether the physical performance level (how fast the skiers completed the race) affected the risk of developing anxiety. Interestingly, on a group level, the fastest skiing women had almost a doubled risk of developing anxiety compared to slower skiing women. Importantly, the fastest skiing women still had a lower risk of developing anxiety compared to non-skiing women of the general population. Among the men, the physical performance level did not seem to matter. Thus, both men and women benefitted from being physically active, even though the optimal exercise level may differ.
Other factors
The higher risk of developing anxiety among the fastest skiing women disappeared if individuals developing the disease within the first five years were excluded. This indicates that the mental illness in this group may not be caused by physical activity per se, but rather that the high level of exercise could be linked to other driving factors and personality traits that may not promote mental wellbeing.
These factors are not possible to investigate in our study but need to be examined further when it comes to the association between physical activity and mental health.
This article is a condensed translation of the original press release in Swedish prepared by Agata Garpenlind.
