Impact of Physical Activity and Sleep Duration on Depressive Symptoms in Hypertensive Patients: Results from a Nationally Representative Korean Sample

Depressive symptoms among individuals with hypertension may increase the risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease, disease burden, and mortality. However, few studies have examined the relationships among physical activity, sleep duration, and depressive symptoms. Thus, this cross-sectional study examined the associations of physical activity and sleep duration with depressive symptoms in individuals with hypertension. We analyzed data collected as part of the 2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included 846 patients with hypertension aged 19 or older. The prevalence rate of depressive symptoms was around 11.2%. A logistic regression analysis showed that moderate to vigorous physical activity (odds ratio (OR) = 4.42; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.19-8.89) and short (OR = 2.18; 95% CI = 1.11-4.28) and long sleep duration (OR = 4.09; 95% CI = 1.83-9.13) increased the risk of depressive symptoms after adjusting for confounding factors. Additionally, older age and low educational levels were associated with depressive symptoms. Our findings highlight that physical activity and sleep duration should be key components of lifestyle modification among hypertensive patients with depressive symptoms. Further investigation might benefit from validating these findings using a longitudinal design and examining the mediating effects of physical activity and/or sleep duration on the relationship between individual characteristics and depressive symptoms.