Aerobic Exercise Tied to Better Sleep, Mental Health in Perimenopausal Women

Higher frequency of practice tied to greater impact on self-reported symptoms

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Aerobics training is tied to improvement in self-reported anxiety, depression, and sleep quality among perimenopausal women, according to a study published online Nov. 24 in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Yan Zhao, from Lyuliang University in China, and colleagues studied the effect of eight weeks of aerobics training on anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance in 289 perimenopausal women. To evaluate the anxiety, depression, and sleep status of the women before and after the intervention, the authors used the self-rating anxiety scale, self-rating depression scale, and Pittsburgh sleep scale.

The researchers found that after aerobics training, the scores of self-rated anxiety and depression and the Pittsburgh sleep questionnaire were significantly lower than those before the intervention. There was significant variance observed in the remission rate of symptoms based on different frequency of spontaneous practice, with a higher frequency of spontaneous practice significantly tied to higher remission rates for all conditions.

“Aerobics training can effectively improve the anxiety and depression of perimenopausal women, improve the quality of sleep, and can be used as a predictive method to improve the mental health level of perimenopausal women,” the authors write. “Further studies are needed in the future to investigate the physiological and biochemical molecular mechanisms by which exercise improves depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders in perimenopausal women.”