Effectiveness of Mobile-Delivered Exercise and Yoga Programs on Depressive Symptom Reduction in Employees: Randomized Controlled Trial

Do app-delivered, motion-tracked exercise or yoga programs reduce stress and depressive symptoms in working adults compared with a self-guided CBT-based education control?

75 full-time employees recruited at two Korean hospitals (71 analyzed)

Unblinded 3-arm randomized controlled trial — what this means: 12 sessions of adaptive moderate-intensity exercise vs. yoga vs. mobile self-care education, with outcomes at baseline — what this means, post-intervention, and 4 weeks later

• Depressive symptoms (PHQ-9): group-by-time interaction F4,136=2.71, P=.03, which missed the corrected threshold of .025
• Yoga beat control on PHQ-9 at 4-week follow-up — what this means in planned comparisons (β=-3.67, adjusted P<.001)
• Perceived Stress Scale: no group difference (P=.29), though all groups improved over time (P<.001)
• Cognitive Stress Responses Scale: significant interaction (P=.003), with yoga improving steadily and exercise gains fading
• 94.7% completed at least 9 of 12 sessions

This small trial suggests a digitally delivered yoga program may produce more durable improvements in depressive symptoms and cognitive stress responses than self-guided education, while the exercise arm and overall perceived stress showed no clear advantage.