Exercise participation, body mass index, and health-related quality of life in women of menopausal age

BACKGROUND: Menopausal symptoms can affect women's health and wellbeing. It is important to develop interventions to alleviate symptoms, especially given recent evidence resulting in many women no longer choosing to take hormone replacement therapy. Exercise may prove useful in alleviating symptoms, although evidence on its effectiveness has been conflicting. AIM: To examine the association between exercise participation, body mass index (BMI), and health-related quality of life in women of menopausal-age. DESIGN OF STUDY: Survey of women of menopausal age. SETTING: West Midlands, England. METHOD: Women aged 46-55 years (n = 2399) registered with six general practices in the West Midlands were sent a questionnaire containing items relating to demographics, lifestyle factors, weight, height, exercise participation, menopausal bleeding patterns, and health-related quality of life (including vasomotor symptoms). RESULTS: One thousand two hundred and six (50.3%) women replied. Women who were regularly active reported better health-related quality of life scores than women who were not regularly active (P