Exercise Recovery From Persistent Depression: A Thematic Analysis

April 30, 2026 updated by: University of Nottingham

Exercise Recovery From Persistent Major Depression in a UK Tertiary Care Centre: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Barriers and Drivers to Participation in a Structured Group Exercise Program

Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and poses a large economic burden in the UK. There is evidence that exercise is beneficial in the management of depression and NICE now recommends group exercise programs as a treatment for people with mild and moderate-severe depression. Research shows that patients with severe depression are less likely to engage in exercise than patients with mild to moderate depression. There is little evidence, however, on the barriers and drivers to participation in such programs experienced by patients with depression; leading to uncertainty in the most effective way to implement these programs. We aim to analyse accounts of patients who have been referred to or participated in the Exercise Recovery Group (ERG), a group exercise program at the Nottingham Specialist Depression Service (NSDS). The NSDS is a tertiary unit where referred patients have suffered moderate-severe, persistent clinical depression. Eligible participants will be patients with persistent major depression who have agreed to referral to the ERG at the NSDS and who are able to provide informed consent. Participants will undergo a one-off 60 minute meeting via MS Teams, including an in-depth semi-structured interview on their experience as well as self-completion questionnaires assessing demographics, depression, anxiety and shame. Transcripts of the interviews will be subject to qualitative thematic analysis addressing questions on barriers and drivers of exercise treatment in depression; and the perceived impact of an exercise group on the individual participating. Themes will be developed to give an account of these questions, supported by anonymised quotes from the transcripts. The questionnaire data (on demographics, depression, anxiety, shame) will be used to characterise the group, in order to help assess directness of the evidence provided for other clinical populations; ultimately helping clinicians to implement exercise groups for depression that are acceptable for patients.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

12

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
    • Nottinghamshire
      • Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, NG3 6AA
        • Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with persistent major depression who have at least agreed to referral to the Exercise Recovery Group at the Nottingham Specialist Depression Service within the previous 24 months

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with persistent major depression
  • Patients who have at least agreed to referral to the Exercise Recovery Group within the previous 24 months
  • Patients who are able to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with a main diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder.
  • Patients who cannot speak fluently in English.
  • Patients without an email account or access to an electronic device that could be used for the MS Teams meeting.
  • Patients who are younger than 18-years-old. There is no upper age limit.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
What are the barriers and drivers to using exercise as a treatment for persistent major depression? via thematic analysis of semi-structured interview.
Time Frame: 12 months
Semi-structured interview transcripts will be subject to a qualitative thematic analysis with simple descriptive statistics (via demographic questionnaire, PHQ9, GAD7, and ESS) to characterise the sample and support any anonymised quotes. Analysis of interviews will use a standard Qualitative software package (NVivo version 12) to conduct thematic analysis through an iterative process of coding, organising coding into themes, reviewing themes, and generating a final thematic narrative with reference to the research question. We will use both deductive and inductive elements in the thematic analysis.
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
How do these barriers and drivers operate at different stages of 'participation', including contemplation of group participation; and within group participation? via thematic analysis of semi-structured interview.
Time Frame: 12 months
Semi-structured interview transcripts will be subject to a qualitative thematic analysis with simple descriptive statistics (via demographic questionnaire, PHQ9, GAD7, and ESS) to characterise the sample and support any anonymised quotes. Analysis of interviews will use a standard Qualitative software package (NVivo version 12) to conduct thematic analysis through an iterative process of coding, organising coding into themes, reviewing themes, and generating a final thematic narrative with reference to the research question. We will use both deductive and inductive elements in the thematic analysis.
12 months
What is the perceived impact of an exercise group on the individual participating, including positive and negative effects? via thematic analysis of semi-structured interview.
Time Frame: 12 months
Semi-structured interview transcripts will be subject to a qualitative thematic analysis with simple descriptive statistics (via demographic questionnaire, PHQ9, GAD7, and ESS) to characterise the sample and support any anonymised quotes. Analysis of interviews will use a standard Qualitative software package (NVivo version 12) to conduct thematic analysis through an iterative process of coding, organising coding into themes, reviewing themes, and generating a final thematic narrative with reference to the research question. We will use both deductive and inductive elements in the thematic analysis.
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Nottingham

Collaborators

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Neil Nixon, BSc,MMedSci,MBBS,DM,FRCPsych, University of Nottingham

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 1, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 9, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

April 9, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 5, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 13, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

September 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 30, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 22032

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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