Menopausal Quality of Life: A RCT of Yoga, Exercise and Omega-3 Supplements. 


Author: Reed SD, Guthrie KA, Newton KM, Anderson GL, Booth-Laforce C, Caan B, Carpenter JS, Cohen LS, Dunn AL, Ensrud KE, Freeman EW, Hunt JR, Joffe H, Larson JC, Learman LA, Rothenberg R, Seguin RA, Sherman KJ, Sternfeld BS, Lacroix AZ.

Affiliation: Departments of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Electronic address: reeds@u.washington.edu. 
Conference/Journal: Am J Obstet Gynecol.
Date published: 2013 Nov 8
Other:
  Pages: S0002-9378(13)02015-2   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2013.11.016   ,  Word Count: 252  
    

OBJECTIVE:

Determine efficacy of three non-hormonal therapies for improving menopause-related quality of life (QOL) in women with vasomotor symptoms (VMS).

METHODS:

12-week 3x2 randomized, controlled, factorial design trial. Peri- and postmenopausal women, ages 40-62 years, were randomized to yoga (n=107), exercise (n=106), or usual activity (n=142), and also randomized to double-blind comparison of omega-3 (n=177) or placebo (n=178) capsules. Interventions: 1) weekly 90-minute yoga classes with daily at-home practice; 2) individualized facility-based aerobic exercise training 3 times/week; and 3) 0.615 gram omega-3 supplement, 3 times/day. Outcomes: Menopausal Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) total and domain (VMS, psychosocial, physical and sexual) scores.

RESULTS:

Among 355 randomized women, average age 54.7 years, 338 (95%) completed 12-week assessments. Mean baseline VMS frequency was 7.6/day and mean baseline total MENQOL score was 3.8 (range 1-8 from better to worse) with no between-group differences. For yoga compared to usual activity, baseline to 12-week improvements were seen for MENQOL total -0.3 (95% CI -0.6 to 0.0, p=0.02), and VMS (p=0.02) and sexuality (p=0.03) domain scores. For exercise and omega-3 compared to controls, improvements in baseline to 12-week total MENQOL scores were not observed. Exercise showed benefit in the MENQOL physical domain score at 12-weeks (p=0.02).

CONCLUSION:

All women become menopausal and many seek medical advice on ways to improve quality of life; little evidence-based information exists. We found, among healthy sedentary menopausal women, yoga appears to improve menopausal QOL - the clinical significance of our finding is uncertain due to modest effect.

Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

exercise, menopause quality of life, omega-3, randomized trial, yoga



PMID: 24215858