Effects of exercise programs on cardiorespiratory fitness and arterial stiffness on postmenopausal women: A systematic review study

Abstract

Background: Arterial stiffness is an important marker of cardiovascular disease, with a considerable increase in menopause. The impact of exercise, as a preventive measure, on controlling the progression of cardiovascular disease and arterial dysfunction in middle age remains under investigation.

Objective: This systematic review aims to present the results of studies that examined the effects of different exercise programs (isolated, aerobic, and resistance or combined) on arterial stiffness and cardiorespiratory fitness in postmenopausal women.

Methods: Based on PRISMA guidelines, B-On, BioMed, EBSCOhost, MEDLINE, ScienceOpen, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane library and LILACS databases were searched using specific keywords.

Results: A final total of 13 manuscripts were included in the qualitative synthesis, involving 700 participants. Four studies used only cardiorespiratory exercise, three only resistance, taekwondo class or flexibility exercise, and six combined exercise programs. Most interventions ranged from 3 to 5 days per week. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity showed improvements between 0.22 m/s and 1.56 m/s. In addition, one study showed an improvement of 4.4 ml/kg/min in maximal oxygen consumption. In 7 studies, participation in exercise programs improved arterial stiffness.

Conclusions: Combined exercise (aerobic and resistance exercise) and aerobic exercise alone (swimming) improve cardiorespiratory fitness and arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women, particularly pulse wave velocity. The combined exercise program is the most effective, promoting improvements of up to -2.6 m/s in pulse wave velocity in this climacteric phase.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Exercise programs; Menopause; Physical activity; Pulse wave analysis; Vascular stiffness.