Effects of a 10-Week Zumba Program on Anxiety and Depression in Adults (ZUMBA-AN-DE)

January 7, 2026 updated by: Manuel Jesús Rodríguez Chavarría

Effects of 10 Weeks of Zumba Training on Anxiety and Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial aimed to examine the effects of a 10-week Zumba exercise program on anxiety and depression levels in healthy adults. Participants aged 40 to 65 years were randomly assigned to either a Zumba intervention group or a control group that maintained their usual lifestyle. The intervention consisted of three supervised Zumba sessions per week, each lasting approximately 50 minutes. Anxiety and depression were assessed before and after the intervention using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The study sought to determine whether a structured, group-based aerobic exercise program could improve psychological well-being in a non-clinical adult population.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study was designed as a randomized controlled trial to investigate the impact of a structured Zumba exercise program on anxiety and depression in healthy adults. Participants were recruited from the community and randomly allocated to either a Zumba intervention group or a control group.

The intervention group participated in a 10-week Zumba program, consisting of three supervised sessions per week. Each session lasted approximately 50 minutes and was conducted at moderate intensity, monitored using the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion scale. Sessions included a standardized warm-up, choreographed aerobic dance routines, and a cool-down period.

The control group was instructed to maintain their usual lifestyle and not to engage in any new structured exercise programs during the study period.

Anxiety and depression were assessed at baseline and after the intervention using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). All assessments were conducted under standardized conditions by trained researchers. The primary objective was to evaluate changes in anxiety and depression symptoms between groups following the intervention.

The study was conducted in accordance with ethical standards, and all participants provided written informed consent prior to participation.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • Spain
    • Sevilla
      • Osuna, Sevilla, Spain, 41640
        • Osuna fitness

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • adults aged between 40 and 65 years
  • not having regularly practised Zumba or other dance disciplines during the previous 12 months
  • medical authorisation or absence of pathologies to participate in supervised physical activity

Exclusion Criteria:

  • presence of orthopaedic, neurological, cardiorespiratory conditions or lack of standing stability that would prevent safe completion of the programme
  • participation in any other structured exercise programme during the intervention period
  • missing more than 10% of the total sessions (missing more than 2 sessions)

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

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Zumba Group
Participants assigned to the experimental group formed the Zumba intervention group. This group followed a supervised Zumba-based exercise program over a period of 10 weeks. The intervention consisted of structured group sessions performed several times per week and led by a qualified instructor. Sessions were based on choreographed aerobic dance movements performed to music, providing moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity aimed at improving cardiovascular fitness and overall physical engagement.
Behavioral: Zumba-based Exercise Program
Participants assigned to this intervention received a supervised Zumba-based exercise program lasting 10 consecutive weeks. The intervention consisted of group-based aerobic dance sessions conducted several times per week and led by a qualified instructor. Sessions included choreographed dance movements performed to music, designed to elicit moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and to promote cardiovascular fitness and overall physical engagement. The program followed a standardized structure across sessions and was implemented as the sole intervention during the study period.
No Intervention: Group Control
Participants in the control group did not participate in the exercise intervention and were instructed to maintain their usual lifestyle and physical activity habits throughout the study period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Anxiety and Depression
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 10 (end of intervention)
Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), a validated self-report questionnaire designed to detect clinically relevant symptoms of anxiety and depression in non-psychiatric populations. The scale consists of 14 items divided into two subscales: anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D), each ranging from 0 to 21 points, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity. Total HADS scores range from 0 to 42. Changes in total and subscale scores were used to evaluate the effects of the intervention on psychological well-being.
Baseline and Week 10 (end of intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Manuel Jesús Rodríguez Chavarría

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)

February 3, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 16, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

April 16, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 19, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

January 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 7, 2026

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ZU-AN-DE

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared publicly. The dataset contains sensitive health-related information collected in a supervised exercise intervention and was obtained under informed consent that did not include data sharing. Data may be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to ethical approval.

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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