Regular exercise is associated with a substantially lower risk of anxiety disorders in both men and women, according to a large population-based study published online in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

“We found that having a physically active lifestyle (being a skier) is associated with around 60% lower risk of developing anxiety disorders compared to matched individuals from the general population in an observational study following almost 400,000 individuals for up to 21 years,” researchers wrote. “Our results were the same when excluding all individuals diagnosed with anxiety disorders within the first 5 years after study inclusion.”

The observational study included 395,369 people, 197,685 of whom participated in the ultralong-distance cross-country ski race Vasaloppet in Sweden. Skiers, who served as a proxy for people with an active lifestyle, were matched with non-skiers from the general Swedish population. Participants were followed for future development of anxiety disorders.

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Up to 21 years of follow-up data showed a significantly lower risk of developing anxiety disorders for skiers compared with non-skiers. Researchers reported an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.42.

Among women, however, a faster race finishing time—which researchers considered a proxy for higher fitness level or extreme exercise—was associated with a 2-fold higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder compared with women who had slower finishing times.

“Importantly,” researchers pointed out, “the total risk of getting anxiety among high-performing women was still lower compared to the more physically inactive women in the general population.”

Among men, finishing time did not significantly affect the risk of developing an anxiety disorder, the study found.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest population-based study to date, confirming a long-term association of a physically active lifestyle on the later development of anxiety disorders in both men and women seen in previous studies with shorter follow-up times,” researchers wrote. “Our results suggest that the preventive effects of physical activity on anxiety disorders may be greater than previously reported.”

References

Svensson M, Brundin L, Erhardt S, Hållmarker U, James S and Deierborg T. Physical activity is associated with lower long-term incidence of anxiety in a population-based, large-scale study. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Published online September 10, 2021. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.714014

Regular exercise may lower risk of developing anxiety by almost 60%. News release. Elsevier. September 10, 2021. Accessed September 17, 2021.