Effects of exercise experienced in the life stages on climacteric symptoms for females.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of exercise experienced in the life stages on climacteric symptoms for females after menopause. Four-hundred and eight postmenopausal women completed a questionnaire. The results were as follows: (1) Mean age at menopause +/- standard deviation was 50.1 +/- 0.5 and did not show a significant relationship with the degree of exercise in the life stages. (2) The degree of climacteric symptoms had a significant relationship, or a tendency toward a significant relationship, with the degree of exercise in and after the 40's; and the greater the degree of exercise, the lesser the degree of climacteric symptoms. (3) Kupperman's index was found to be, or tended to be, significantly related to the degree of exercise in and after the 30's. Those who exercised heavily in their 30's showed a significantly lower Kupperman's index. Those who answered that they had exercised "moderately" in their "40's to menopause" and "menopause to 60 years old" tended to have the lowest index. (4) Exercise experience in the life stages was negatively correlated, in particular, to psychosomatic symptoms among the 3 climacteric symptom categories. This negative correlation tended to be higher in those who answered that they had done "less exercise" in and after their 30's. (5) A significant relationship was noted between the degree of exercise in the 30's and "weakness" in Kupperman's index, and between exercise in and after the 40's and "nervousness" and "melancholia". Therefore, it is suggested that exercising "moderately" from the subjective viewpoint in the climacteric period may alleviate psychosomatic symptoms.