title: Should menopausal characteristics be considered during cardiorespiratory exercise prescription in postmenopausal women?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Menopausal characteristics (i.e. the nature of menopause, hormone therapy, and time elapsed since menopause) are known to affect women's health-related quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine whether menopausal characteristics affect the cardiorespiratory exercise response and which characteristics should be considered for exercise prescription.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-eight postmenopausal women (60.21 ± 4.49 years of age; 66.26 ± 8.99 kg body weight; 157.09 ± 4.92 cm in height; 29.70 ± 4.79 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1) maximal oxygen uptake) participated in this study. A graded 25-W/min(2) cycle ergometer exercise protocol was applied to assess aerobic power and ventilatory thresholds. Participants' heart rates and gas-exchange variables were measured continuously using a COSMED K4b(2) portable gas analyzer system. The first and the second ventilatory thresholds were determined by the time-course curves of ventilation and oxygen and carbon dioxide ventilatory equivalents. Using age as a covariate, an analysis of covariance was performed to assess the effect of menopause characteristics upon the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regardless of the nature of menopause, use of hormone therapy, time elapsed since menopause, and the interaction between these characteristics, the participants presented no differences in maximal oxygen uptake values, neither on submaximal variables often used in evaluations of exercise prescription, such as percent of maximal oxygen uptake, maximal heart rate, and heart rate reserve, nor in respiratory exchange ratio and gas exchange energy expenditure at aerobic and anaerobic ventilatory thresholds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that a personalized cardiorespiratory target zone for this population should be set according to the published literature, and that consideration of the individual menopausal characteristics seems to be unnecessary.
authors: Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro , Vila Real , Portugal.
authors: F R
authors: FR
authors: Aragão
authors: M H
authors: MH
authors: Moreira
authors: R E
authors: RE
authors: Gabriel
authors: C G
authors: CG
authors: Abrantes
mesh_terms: D001823:Body Composition; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange; D011788:Quality of Life; D012137:Respiratory System; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION; MENOPAUSAL CHARACTERISTICS; POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN; VENTILATORY THRESHOLDS