A recent study published in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Binh Nguyen of University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues found that consistently following physical activity guidelines throughout middle-age is linked to a better health-related quality of life for women.
Previously, the connection between physical activity and health-related quality of life has primarily been supported by evidence.The focus of previous research has been on cross-sectional studies and short-term randomized controlled trials, with only a few longitudinal studies measuring physical activity over time and exploring the long-term effects of exercise.
For this new study, researchers gathered data at three-year intervals starting in 1996 from 11,336 participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. The women were born between 1946 and 1951, making them 47 to 52 years old at the start of the study. Participants were categorized as either consistently meeting the WHO physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes per week over the fifteen-year period.exposure period, did not meet the guidelines at first, but began meeting them at age 55, 60, or 65, or never met the guidelines. The study evaluated the participants’ health-related quality of life by using the physical health composite score (PCS) and mental health composite score (MCS) from the Short Form 36 Health Survey. This survey consists of 36 questions that assess functional health and well-being.
On average, individuals who consistently followed the physical activity guidelines and those who started meeting the guidelines at age 55 had a three-point higher PCS (46.93 [95% CI 46.32 to 47.54] and 46.96 [95% CI 45.53 to 48.40], respectively) compared to those who did not meet the guidelines.The impact of physical activity on the PSC remained significant, even when socioeconomic factors and pre-existing health conditions were taken into account. However, no significant link was found between physical activity and MCS.
According to the authors, this study adds to the increasing evidence supporting the advantages of maintaining an active lifestyle in mid-age. They emphasize the important public health message that staying active for as many years as possible, even if women begin to meet physical activity guidelines in their mid-50s, could have significant health benefits.
The study found that being physically active throughout mid-age has significant benefits for women’s physical health, particularly in terms of physical functioning. The authors emphasized the importance of women increasing their activity levels to meet the guidelines by age 55 in order to maximize the benefits for physical health in later life.
