Association of depression, physical activity levels and general psychological health among physical therapy students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Objective: To determine the association of depression, physical activity (PA) levels and general psychological health among physical therapy students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among students of physiotherapy department at Rawalpindi and Islamabad Institutions, from August 2015 to January 2016. Five hundred students were recruited using non-probability convenient sampling. The data was collected through a questionnaire that comprised of demographic information, Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), General Health Questionnaire-12(GHQ-12) and Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and correlation analysis was performed to see the relationship amongst depression, PA and general psychological health. Results: Majority of the students (42.6%) had mild depression. However, 64.8% students had no psychological distress. Moreover, 33.4% of the students were involved in aerobic activities and majority of them (37.6%) were not doing any activities to improve flexibility and increase muscle strength. There was an inverse correlation between RAPA and BDI-II (p<0.001) and a positive association between RAPA and GHQ-12 (p<0.001). Conclusion: The study concluded that majority of the students had mild depression but their general psychological health was not affected as they were involved in routine physical activity. The result of this study provides evidence that there is a negative relation between physical activity and depression and a positive relation between physical activity and general psychological health.