Beneficios percibidos de un grupo de mujeres en climaterio incorporadas a un programa de actividad física terapéutica

Background: Exercise and physical activity provide a wide range of health benefits in postmenopausal women, although the impact of sustained physical activity on psychosocial well being is unclear. Objective: To describe the benefits of a program of therapeutic activity in water perceived by postmenopausal women. Design: Quasi-experimental analytic study. Participants and methods: We studied 50 women in the metropolitan area of the city of Santiago de Cali (Colombia) who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Primary measurements: Anthropometric variables (age, weight, size, body mass index) were collected. The Shortform 36 (SF-36) health questionnaire was administered to measure health-related quality of life in pre- and postintervention personal interviews. Measures of central tendency and dispersion of the scores were calculated by age groups. Results: All domains of the SF-36 health questionnaire were modified after the study. The perceived benefits were grouped in 8 main categories. The highest scores reported by the women were found in bodily pain (23%), role-physical (22%) and vitality (21%), while role-emotional and general health received scores of 18% and 16%, respectively. The lowest scores were found in social function (14%) and physical function (13%). Mental health showed negative variation (3%; p � 0.05). Conclusions: All domains of self-perceived health were modified by therapeutic physical activity in women aged more than 55 years old. These results demonstrate the advantages of exercise in this group of women.