Physical activity and the menopause experience: a cross-sectional study

A randomly selected community cohort of 2000 Australian born women aged 45 to 55 were interviewed on the telephone and information obtained on their health and well-being. These women were divided into pre-, peri-, natural and surgical menopausal groups on their menstrual history. A physical activity questionnaire was sent to 1181 women in the first three of these groups. These questionnaires were completed and returned by 61.6% of the women. The response rate in all groups was significantly associated with the years of education, employment status, body mass index (BMI) and self-rated health of the participants. The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that physical activity is a major contributor to health and well-being by establishing the relationships between physical activity and certain health outcomes, such as menopausal symptoms, psychological well-being, self-rated health and BMI in this cohort of mid-life women. The inter-relationship between physical activity and other variables, including menopausal status, interpersonal stress, health related and preventive health behaviours was examined. Levels of physical activity were significantly associated with better self-rated health, lower BMI measurements, moderate alcohol intake and self-breast examination. There was no significant association between levels of physical activity, psychological well-being and women's experience of symptoms during the natural menopause transition.