Quality of life and psychosocial health in postmenopausal women achieving public health guidelines for physical activity

In Brief Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if there are differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychosocial health between postmenopausal women who meet public health physical activity (PA) guidelines versus those who do not (ie, self-report) and those women who achieve at least 7,500 steps · day−1 versus those who do not (ie, via objective monitor). Methods: Postmenopausal women (n = 297) residing in Southern Alberta, Canada, completed a mailed questionnaire that assessed self-reported PA, HRQoL, and psychosocial health outcomes. Total daily steps were assessed with a pedometer via a 3-day step monitoring period. Results: Of the postmenopausal women, 43.1% were meeting public health PA guidelines. A significant multivariate model (Wilks λ = 0.968, F2,294 = 4.918, P = 0.008) indicated that women achieving public health PA guidelines reported higher HRQoL on both the physical (mean difference [Mdiff] = 2.4, P = 0.008, d [effect size] = 0.31) and mental (Mdiff = 2.3, P = 0.011, d = 0.30) component scales of the RAND-12 compared with women not achieving PA guidelines. Furthermore, women achieving at least 7,500 steps · day−1 indicated significantly higher scores on the physical component scale (Mdiff = 4.33, P < 0.001, d = 0.56) than did women achieving fewer than 7,500 pedometer steps · day−1. Conclusions: These findings lend support for the health benefits of achieving public health PA guidelines in postmenopause and further the rationale for developing, evaluating, and implementing strategically designed PA behavior change programs for postmenopausal women. The present study found that 43% of postmenopausal women were achieving public health physical activity guidelines. Postmenopausal women who were physically active reported more optimal health-related quality of life and satisfaction with life and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety when compared with postmenopausal women who were not physically active.