Physical fitness helped healthcare workers experiencing depression, burnout and facing sick days during the pandemic, and it could be a useful tool for the future. But people have to stick with the exercise habit to see the results, a new study finds.

Researchers broke up 288 healthcare workers into two groups. The exercisers were asked to do four, 20-minute sessions per week. Options for moving included yoga, barre, running and weight training — any program they wanted on the Down Dog suite of apps. That group used the apps; the other didn’t use the apps and resumed normal activity with no exercise schedule. The non-exercisers got free trials of the apps at the end of the study. 

The people all reported biweekly on their progress. Participants in the study were screened during the spring of 2022, and all were from British Columbia, Canada. The mean age was 41. The research was published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry.

Not only did the study authors want to see if the program helped with burnout and feeling down; they wanted to know if it reduced calling out of work. The scientists used a 10-item depression scale. Other outcomes correlated to three subfacets of burnout — cynicism, emotional exhaustion and professional efficacy. They also evaluated the people for missing work.  

Results revealed that exercise did, in fact, yield benefits on mood and work attendance. People saw a 19% reduction in depression by week four, a 26% reduction by week six and a 41% reduction by week 12. People who worked out had fewer sick days. Small improvements in cynicism, emotional exhaustion and professional efficacy were also noted. 

The study was done during the pandemic, when stressors at home or work may have impacted adherence, the researchers said.

“Our results suggest that at-home exercise can have meaningful effects on [workers’] well-being and absenteeism when they are given free access to mobile-based exercise apps, provided they continue using these apps,” they wrote.

One barrier to seeing results? Sticking with the program. Over the course of the study, the workers used the apps less and less. In fact, only 33 people in the exercising group — that’s 23% — were using the apps regularly by the end of the trial. Older adults were more likely to use the apps.