Effectiveness of Tai Chi Exercise Program on Sleep, Quality of Life, and Physical Performance in Postmenopausal Working Women

BACKGROUND: Menopause being an unavoidable time in every woman's life brings up various challenges. Inevitable changes in body systems affect the life of a woman permanently. The symptoms constitute the postmenopausal syndrome which further affects the quality of life (QOL). Women spend most of the time working during the menopausal transition period and also during postmenopause. The discussion of symptoms is still considered a taboo. Exercise intervention to reduce the symptoms related to menopause which can show a positive impact on health status and work needs to be incorporated. METHODOLOGY: Tai Chi exercise intervention was given for 8 weeks to the women who achieved natural menopause and were included in the study (n = 76). They were assessed for sleep, QOL, and physical performance before and after the intervention. RESULTS: A significant difference was observed in all the outcomes after 8 weeks of intervention (Sleep Quality Scale (SQS)-t = 7.57, P = 0.0001; WHOQOL-BREF-t = 7.56, P = 0.0001; and Physical Performance Test PPT-t = 19.93, P = 0.0001). The results were consistent due to the active participation and high adherence rate of the individuals to the protocol. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that besides being low velocity and low impact exercise, Tai Chi was a safe and effective mode of treatment in postmenopausal working women. In this group approach sessions were interactive and improved socialization skills because it was conducted in a community setting minimum equipment's and greater feasibility. Hence, this could also be incorporated in different age group population.