Efectos del ejercicio físico sobre la depresión de mujeres postmenopáusicas

Abstract

Depression is currently considered one of the leading causes of disability in the world, affecting approximately 8 to 15% of the total world population. In the area of public health, it is posing a major challenge with a markedly negative trend. According to WHO forecasts, this will become the main cause of disability in 2030, generating very high individual, family and social costs. One of the main population groups affected by depression are peri and postmenopausal women, with prevalence ranging from 23% to 34%. The number of studies correlating depression with the degree of menopausal symptoms in middleaged women is already high. A common denominator in most depressive patients is sedentarism, which is related to a reduction in health status. Associated in several publications with an antidepressant effect the physical exercise in patients with depressions graduated between light and moderate levels. Therefore physical exercise should be introduced in the treatment programs of depression. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were: to establish a protocol of physical exercise with the purpose of studying whether it produced changes at the psychological level, quality of life, anthropometric parameters and the physical condition of the subjects, as well as assess Depression status and symptomatology to all groups using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HRSD) questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the quality of life, EuroQol-5D. The results showed little change on the psychological and physical variables, but it did improve the quality of life of the same.