Abstract
Health promotion through lifestyle education is an important measure to enhance health status of postmenopausal women (PMW). This study evaluated the effectiveness of health-promoting lifestyle education intervention (HPLEI) on adhering to health-promoting behaviors (HPB) and enhancing the health status in a group of Sri Lankan PMW. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with randomly selected, sociodemographic status matched, 72 PMW from two geographically separated areas in Galle District, Sri Lanka, allocated as experimental (n = 37, 54.6 ± 4.5 years) and control (n = 35, 56.5 ± 3.4 years) groups. Education intervention focused on postmenopausal health management including lifestyle modifications was performed only for the experimental group during 8 weeks, and a health education package was provided. The control group was not given any planned education programme. Both groups were followed up for a 6-month period. HPB and menopausal symptoms severity were evaluated by validated Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II and Menopause Rating Scale, respectively. Anthropometric adiposity indices (AAIs) including weight, body mass index (BMI), waist (WC) and hip (HC) circumferences, and waist to hip ratio (WHR); cardiovascular disease risk indicators (CVDRI) including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol and triglycerides, muscle strength; hand grip strength (HGS) and physical performance (PP); gait speed (GS) were measured. All parameters were evaluated before the intervention (baseline) and after follow-up of 6 months. All evaluated parameters were not different between experimental and control groups (p > 0.05) at the baseline. In the follow-up evaluation, HPB (p < 0.001), menopausal symptom scores (p < 0.001), AAI (p < 0.001), CVDRI (SBP, DBP, and FBS) (p < 0.05) and HGS and GS (p < 0.001) were significantly improved in the experimental group but not in the control group. Health education intervention focused on health-promoting lifestyle modifications is effective in improving the adherence to HPB and enhances the health status in PMW. This provides positive impact in lifestyle medicine.
Highlights
Health promotion is “the fundamental strategy in health care that implies changes in behavior and the adoption of patterns that promote good health in order to improve the quality of life (QOL) of the people.” [1] The main goal of health promotion is achieving healthy lifestyle behaviors [2] known as “health-promoting behaviors” (HPB)
There was no significant difference of HPB scores, menopausal symptom scores, Anthropometric adiposity indices (AAIs), cardiovascular disease risk indicators (CVDRI), hand grip strength (HGS), and gait speed (GS) between experimental and control groups (p > 0.05) at the baseline (p values are not shown)
HPB: all the subscales scores of HPB were higher at the end of intervention when compared with baseline values (p < 0.001) in the experimental group
Summary
Health promotion is “the fundamental strategy in health care that implies changes in behavior and the adoption of patterns that promote good health in order to improve the quality of life (QOL) of the people.” [1] The main goal of health promotion is achieving healthy lifestyle behaviors [2] known as “health-promoting behaviors” (HPB). Menopause is a significant landmark in the reproductive life of women, and hormonal changes at menopause create a BioMed Research International multitude of structural and functional changes in postmenopausal women (PMW) These include menopausal symptoms [6], changes in anthropometric adiposity indices (AAI) [7], cardiovascular disease risk indicators (CVDRI) [8], muscle strength, and physical performance (PP) [9]. Regular training or education programs on healthy lifestyle are vital to promote health in general and QOL [16, 17] Positive lifestyle changes such as physical activity and dietary modifications have clear benefits on many aspects of life in PMW, including physical and emotional changes, sleep, and cardiovascular health [18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
