Effect of Multimodal Exercises on Functional Capacity, Hand Grip Strength, and Pulmonary Function among Middle-aged...

Pulmonary and physical functions are associated with menopausal status. The exercise recommendations have been described, however, there is a dearth of literature proposing the benefit of these exercises for improving pulmonary and physical function among postmenopausal women.

The study aimed to explore the effect of multimodal exercises on functional capacity, hand grip strength (HGS), and pulmonary function among middle-aged postmenopausal women.

Twelve postmenopausal women with a median age of 52.50 years were recruited by purposive sampling for this single group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental preliminary study. The outcomes were assessed at baseline and after 8 weeks and included 6-min walk test (6MWT), HGS, and pulmonary function measures: forced expiratory volume in 1^st s (FEV1) and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV). The multimodal exercise intervention was given for 8 weeks at a frequency of three times a week.

The Wilcoxon Signed-rank test showed that 6MWT (P = 0.002), dominant HGS (P = 0.002), nondominant HGS (P = 0.003), FEV₁ (P = 0.004), and MVV (0.002) showed statistically significant improvement with multimodal exercise protocol. The P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

The multimodal exercise protocol has significant benefits in improving the functional capacity, HGS, and pulmonary function among postmenopausal women, however, larger experimental trials are warranted.