Effect of 12-week of aerobic exercise on hormones and lipid profile status in adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome: A study during COVID-19.

Abstract

COVID-19 as a viral disease has brought up the need to exercise more than before due to its physiological effects on health. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of 12-week of aerobic exercise on female students' hormone levels and lipid profile with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a 12-week quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest research design among 40 Iranian female students aged 18-14 with PCOS, we randomly allocated the participants to either an experimental (they performed aerobic exercises three 60-minute sessions per week at home using content production) or a control condition. Their anthropometric and blood samples (e.g., testosterone, estrogen, prolactin, and lipid profile) were taken in two stages before and after the training protocol. The results of analysis indicated that 12-week of aerobic exercise reduced testosterone (P=0.041), prolactin (P=0.001), estrogen (P=0.001), body mass (P=0.002), body mass index (P=0.002), cholesterol (P=0.005), triglyceride (P=0.001) and low-density lipoprotein (P=0.001), whilst increased high-density lipoprotein (P=0.002). Findings demonstrated that performing aerobic exercises is an effective and non-invasive method that could have a positive effect on young girls' PCOS during COVID-19 pandemic.