Sustainability of Exercise Training Following a Structured Exercise Intervention in Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome

ABSTRACT Objective Little is known about the sustainability of exercise interventions in individuals with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). Our aims were: (1) to determine if participation in structured exercise interventions resulted in sustained increases in exercise levels, and (2) to identify factors that motivate and discourage participation in exercise. Methods A secondary analysis of a 6‐month randomized controlled trial was performed in women aged 18–40 years with PMOS evaluating the effects of supervised high‐intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate‐intensity continuous training (MICT) compared with no‐exercise controls. Six months after trial completion, participants completed a survey assessing factors affecting participation. Chi square, Wilcoxon rank‐sum tests, t ‐tests, and tests of proportion were used to compare groups. Results Of 40 participants who completed the trial, 30 completed the 6‐month survey (control n = 11, HIIT n = 9, MICT n = 10). Mean weekly exercise sessions 6‐months posttrial were 2.1 (95%CI 1.1–3.2), 2.4 (95%CI 1.5–3.3), and 1.6 (95%CI 0.8–2.4) for no‐exercise control, HIIT, and MICT, respectively. For those who completed exercise training ( n = 19), six (32%) maintained their exercise levels while nine (47%) reported a decrease and four (21%) reported an increase. The top reported reasons for participating in exercise were weight control (24, 80%), health benefits (22, 73%), and appearance (17, 57%). The main reported barriers to exercise were lack of motivation (24, 80%) and lack of time (22, 73%). Conclusions More than half of participants in a structured supervised exercise intervention reported sustained levels of exercise 6 months postintervention. Further research is needed to address barriers to exercise among individuals with PMOS.