Comparative effectiveness of exercise, antidepressants and their combination in treating non-severe depression: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Objective: To assess the comparative effectiveness of exercise, antidepressants and their combination for alleviating depressive symptoms in adults with non-severe depression.

Design: Systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Data sources: Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus and SportDiscus.

Eligibility criteria: Randomised controlled trials (1990-present) that examined the effectiveness of an exercise, antidepressant or combination intervention against either treatment alone or a control/placebo condition in adults with non-severe depression.

Study selection and analysis: Risk of bias, indirectness and the overall confidence in the network were assessed by two independent investigators. A frequentist network meta-analysis was performed to examine postintervention differences in depressive symptom severity between groups. Intervention drop-out was assessed as a measure of treatment acceptability.

Results: Twenty-one randomised controlled trials (n=2551) with 25 comparisons were included in the network. There were no differences in treatment effectiveness among the three main interventions (exercise vs antidepressants: standardised mean differences, SMD, -0.12; 95% CI -0.33 to 0.10, combination versus exercise: SMD, 0.00; 95% CI -0.33 to 0.33, combination vs antidepressants: SMD, -0.12; 95% CI -0.40 to 0.16), although all treatments were more beneficial than controls. Exercise interventions had higher drop-out rates than antidepressant interventions (risk ratio 1.31; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.57). Heterogeneity in the network was moderate (τ²=0.03; I²=46%).

Conclusions: The results suggest no difference between exercise and pharmacological interventions in reducing depressive symptoms in adults with non-severe depression. These findings support the adoption of exercise as an alternative or adjuvant treatment for non-severe depression in adults.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD4202122656.