Habitual physical activity and sedentary behavior among women with and without premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy: an exploratory study.

Objective: To explore potential differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior volumes and patterns among postmenopausal women with and without premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy (PBO).

Methods: Women with a history of PBO (n = 50) and age-matched postmenopausal referent women (n = 50) were recruited. Participants wore accelerometers on both ankles for 7 days. Volume metrics of sedentary behavior and physical activity, such as step counts, active time, and sedentary time, as well as the sedentary behavior and habitual physical activity distribution, and accumulation patterns, were quantified from the accelerometer data and compared between groups.

Results: Metrics indicating volume of sedentary behavior and physical activity were not statistically different between groups. PBO was significantly associated with higher variability in stepping bout time (P = 0.022), indicating a potentially more complex walking pattern. In addition, PBO was significantly associated with lower variability in sedentary break time (P = 0.012), and lower activity time Gini index (Z = -2.428, P = 0.015). This suggests that women with PBO may have broken up their sedentary time with shorter and less variable activity bouts, and because they had relatively shorter average daily active time, they might be at a higher risk of subsequent adverse health outcomes such as low bone mineral density.

Conclusions: Although there were no differences in overall activity volume, some differences in activity patterns emerged between women with PBO and referent women. The study highlights the need for longitudinal research to understand how physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns evolve in postmenopausal women with a history of PBO.