The effect of Rrecreational Sport on Anxiety and Depression in patients with pemphigus vulgaris(A RCT in Covid-19 period)

Pemphigus vulgaris is a chronic and irritating bullous dermatologic disease with an autoimmune origin and has unpleasant psychological effects Also recreational sport or leisure time activities have been proposed as an uncomplicated and useful method in the treatment of anxiety and depression in a number of studies.

In this study we aim to investigate the effect of leisure time activities as a useful and uncomplicated method on depression and anxiety in pemphigus patients.

76 patients with pemphigus vulgaris were included in the study by observing the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were randomly divided into two equal groups of control and intervention. Hospital anxiety and depression questionnaire (HADS) was obtained before and after the intervention by patients and they complete their Medical and Personal Demographic Information’s. The intervention included recreational sport such as walking in the park for 60 minutes, every other day,three sessions per week.for 8 weeks.

Recreational sport significantly reduced anxiety of patients in the intervention group compared to the control group after 8 weeks (6.92±4.7 vs 9.31±4.97, P-value=0.03). However, there was no significant effect on depression score between the two groups during the two-month period (6.03±4.6 vs 7.78±4.3, P-value=0.067). However, in the intervention group, significant changes in both anxiety and depression have been reported during the time. (P-value<0.03وP-value<0.004)

Leisure time physical activities such as recreational walking exercise in the park can be a useful and uncomplicated method to reduce anxiety in patients with pemphigus vulgaris along with medication, although it has not a significant effect on depression during this too short time in two-month exercise period.