The Associations Between Physical Activity and Mental Health Problems in Middle-aged Indonesians

Mental health issues have become a growing concern worldwide. Research has shown that regular physical activity can positively affect mental health. This study investigated the associations between physical activity and mental health problems in middle-aged Indonesians. The study utilized data from the 2018 Indonesian Basic Health Research Survey and used a cross-sectional approach. The participants included individuals aged 40-60 years who completed the 20-question Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). A logistic regression was performed to analyze a sample of 263,930 data points. Nearly 10.4% of the participants suffered from mental health issues. Notably, among those who did not engage in moderate and vigorous physical activity, a sign of mental health problems was found in 12.5% of participants. Those who met World Health Organization standards for physical activity were less likely to experience mental health problems (10.1%). This study found a significant association between physical activity and mental health. After adjusting for smoking, alcohol consumption, non-communicable diseases, and sociodemographic variables like age, sex, education, occupation, marital status, and residence, the connection between physical activity and mental health became even stronger (adjusted odds ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 0.85; p