Exercise dose and quality of life: a randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
Improved quality of life (QOL) is a purported benefit of exercise, but few randomized controlled trials and no dose-response trials have been conducted to examine this assertion.


METHODS
The effect of 50%, 100%, and 150% of the physical activity recommendation on QOL was examined in a 6-month randomized controlled trial. Participants were 430 sedentary postmenopausal women (body mass index range, 25.0-43.0 [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared]) with elevated systolic blood pressure randomized to a nonexercise control group (n = 92) or 1 of 3 exercise groups: exercise energy expenditure of 4 (n = 147), 8 (n = 96), or 12 (n = 95) kilocalories per kilogram of body weight per week. Eight aspects of physical and mental QOL were measured at baseline and month 6 with the use of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey.


RESULTS
Change in all mental and physical aspects of QOL, except bodily pain, was dose dependent (trend analyses were significant, and exercise dose was a significant predictor of QOL change; P < .05). Higher doses of exercise were associated with larger improvements in mental and physical aspects of QOL. Controlling for weight change did not attenuate the exercise-QOL association.


CONCLUSIONS
Exercise-induced QOL improvements were dose dependent and independent of weight change.
Martin
Corby K
CK
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA. Martin@pbrc.edu
Church
Timothy S
TS
Thompson
Angela M
AM
Earnest
Conrad P
CP
Blair
Steven N
SN
D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D004651:Employment; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010809:Physical Fitness; D017698:Postmenopause; D011788:Quality of Life; D013599:Systole; D015431:Weight Loss
D000928:Antidepressive Agents