Effect of Aquatic Exercise on Menopause Symptoms and Quality of Life

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an 8-week aquatic exercise program on menopausal symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in menopausal women. Subjects were perimenopausal and postmenopausal female volunteers, 34–60 years old, from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (RSC) and surrounding community. Twelve subjects completed the 8-week program. METHODS: This study was approved by the RSC Institutional Review Board for Research on Human Subjects. Volunteers completed a demographic questionnaire and the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) prior to acceptance into the study. During orientation and exit sessions, subjects completed the Menopause Specific Quality of Life (MSQOL) survey, the Baecke Physical Activity and a menopause symptom questionnaire. RESULTS: The subjects consisted of 41.7% perimenopausal and 58.3% postmenopausal women. The mean age was 49.5 y.o. The mean age of menarche was 12.6 yrs. Eight percent of the females were on hormone replacement therapy. The pretest and post test results of the MSQOL survey and symptom questionnaire were compared using a t-test for paired samples. The results revealed a significant difference for the symptom data (p<.05, t= −2.79) and MSQOL data (p<.05, t= −2.73). CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study reveal that those who participated in an eight-week aquatic exercise program experienced a decrease in menopausal symptoms and an improvement in their overall quality of life. Aquatic exercise is an enjoyable alternative exercise method that increases quality of life and reduces menopausal symptoms. The study increased awareness of an alternative intervention for reducing menopausal symptoms.