The Effect of Eight Weeks of Aerobic Exercise on Depression in Postmenopausal Women

Depression is one of the problems in postmenopausal women with the age of 55 to 65 years. This problem، due to physical disability and injuries which can create، is very important. In 2012، 100 women with depression were enrolled and randomly assigned to two groups (n = 50) of intervention and control. The intervention group participated an 8-week aerobic exercise program (3 sessions per week for an hour)، but the control group did not receive any intervention. The collected data included the Beck Depression Inventory results before and after aerobic exercise. Data analysis was performed using ANOVA test with repeated measures. There was a significant difference in the rate of depression prevalence between the intervention and control groups after 8 weeks (P < 0. 05). The results showed that aerobic exercise increased the muscular strength and self-esteem and decreased depression. It appears that using these exercises could be useful as a complementary therapy in postmenopausal women with depression.