Is concurrent training effective in the symptomatology of menopause, depression, sexual function, and the aging perspective of women during menopause? A randomised clinical trial.

Abstract

Introduction: To analyse the effect of concurrent training after 4 months of intervention compared to the control group on the symptomatology of menopause, symptoms of depression, sexual function, and aging perspective of women during menopause.

Material and methods: This is a randomized 2-arm clinical trial. A total of 42 menopausal women (53.21 ±3.65 years of age) were included. Questionnaires related to symptoms of menopause (menopause rating scale - MRS), depression (hospital anxiety and depression scale), sexual function (female sexual function index), and aging perspective (Sheppard inventory) were applied. Intention-to-treat and protocol adherence analysis were performed.

Results: In the analysis by protocol, there was an improvement in menopausal symptoms in all domains of the MRS, specifically somatic symptoms (p = 0.001), psychological symptoms (p = 0.001), urogenital symptoms (p = 0.001), and total score (p = 0.001), as well as a reduction in depressive symptoms (p = 0.016). Additionally, improvements were observed in sexual function across 4 domains, including desire (p = 0.007), lubrication (p = 0.024), satisfaction (p = 0.030), and the overall sexual function score (p = 0.022). Furthermore, concerning the aspect of 'finitude', there was a significant improvement between groups in the domain of happiness (p = 0.046).

Conclusions: Concurrent training was shown to be effective for improving the symptomatology of menopause, depression, sexual function and happiness in menopause.