Physical Activity in Middle Age Improves Health Among Women
By Emily Shafer HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, May 3, 2024 -- Adherence to physical activity guidelines during middle age appears to improve health-related quality of life among women, according to a study published online May 2 in PLOS Medicine.
Binh Nguyen, Ph.D., of the University of Sydney, and colleagues evaluated data from 11,336 participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, a 1946 to 1951 birth cohort. Data were collected at three-year intervals from 1998 to 2019. The authors evaluated two interventions: meeting the World Health Organization physical activity guidelines consistently through the "exposure period" (when the women were aged 50-55 to 65-70 years) and not meeting the guidelines at the beginning of the exposure period, but meeting them later at ages 55, 60, or 65 years. The primary outcomes were physical and mental health component summary scores.
The researchers found that consistent adherence to guidelines during the exposure period and starting to meet the guidelines by age 55 years were linked to a 3-point higher physical component summary score compared with consistent nonadherence. The effect was significant even after controlling for socioeconomic factors and preexisting health diagnoses. The investigators did not observe a significant effect for physical activity on the mental health component summary scores.
"Our study contributes to growing evidence of the health benefits of maintaining or adopting an active lifestyle in mid-age," the authors write. "Such public health messages should be used to encourage middle-aged women to become and stay active."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted May 2024
Read this next
AI-Assisted Contours Superior to Cognitively Defined Prostate Cancer Contours
WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2024 -- Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted definition of prostate cancer contours reduces underestimation of the extent of prostate cancer, according to a...
Mean Cost of Bringing New Drug to U.S. Market Is $879.3 Million
TUESDAY, July 2, 2024 -- The mean cost of developing a new drug for the U.S. market is estimated to be $879.3 million when both drug development failure and capital costs are...
Patient–Primary Care Provider Language Concordance Tied to Better Outcomes
TUESDAY, July 2, 2024 -- Patient-family physician language concordance is associated with a lower risk for adverse outcomes, according to a study published online June 3...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.