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Vol. 43. Issue 157.
Pages 14-23 (January 2008)
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Vol. 43. Issue 157.
Pages 14-23 (January 2008)
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Perceived benefits of therapeutic physical activity in a group of postmenopausal women
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Robinson Ramírez Véleza, Carlos Alejandro López Albanb, Héctor Reynaldo Triana Reinac, Mónica Idarragac, Florencia Giraldo Gensinic
a Fundación Universitaria María Cano, Extensión Cali. Especialista en Rehabilitación Cardíaca y Pulmonar, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario. Bogotá. Doctorando en Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad del Valle. Cali. Valle. Colombia.
b Universidad del Cauca. Universidad Federal del Río Grande do Sul. Brasil. Director del Centro para la Investigación en Salud y Rendimiento Humano ZOE Calidad de vida. Cali. Colombia.
c Universidad del Valle. Escuela Nacional del Deporte. Cali. Colombia.
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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 Short-form 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.
Apunts Sports Medicine
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