title: What women want? Exercise preferences of menopausal women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many menopausal women are keen to find alternatives to HRT; exercise might be useful in this regard but more trial evidence is required. Before we conduct such trials however, it is important to understand the exercise preference of these women so that appropriate exercise interventions can be developed for inclusion in such trials.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the exercise preferences of menopausal women and to examine the association between exercise levels, BMI, and hot flushes/night sweats in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were women aged 46-55 years from eight diverse general practices in Birmingham. A postal questionnaire containing items about demographics, lifestyle behaviours, weight, height, menopausal status, frequency of hot flushes/night sweats and preferences for exercise was sent to all eligible women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  1693/2776 (61.0%) of women replied. The majority (75.9%) of respondents stated that exercise was an acceptable intervention. The most commonly chosen option for delivery of exercise interventions was by one-to-one consultations with a fitness advisor, followed by DVD sent by post. Telephone based interventions and e-Health interventions (i.e. Internet and mobile phone text messages) were the interventions least chosen. There was also an overwhelming choice for walking as a mode of exercise. A series of two factor analyses of covariance indicated exercise participation and BMI were not significantly related to frequency of hot flushes/night sweats in symptomatic menopausal women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Menopausal women have strong preferences to receive exercise interventions that involve one-to-one contact with a fitness advisor or by exercise DVD. The use of more recent technology to deliver exercise interventions was highly unpopular. These findings should be considered in future studies when planning exercise interventions with this population.
authors.affiliation: Primary Care Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. a.daley@bham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daley
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stokes-Lampard
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rees
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roalfe
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macarthur
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D016138:Walking