PMID 36810865

Research
All papers

Efficacy of high-intensity interval training for improving mental health and health-related quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Patten RK, McIlvenna LC, Moreno-Asso A, Hiam D, Stepto NK, Rosenbaum S, Parker AG

Question

Does HIIT improve mental health and health-related quality of life more than work-matched moderate continuous training in overweight women with PCOS?

Summary

In overweight women with PCOS, 12 weeks of supervised cycling HIIT reduced depression, anxiety, and stress scores and improved several quality-of-life domains. Moderate continuous cycling improved stress and some quality-of-life domains. HIIT improved anxiety more than MICT, but the mental-health analysis was secondary and the sample was small.

Methodology

  • Overweight premenopausal women with diagnosed PCOS who were insufficiently active before enrollment.
  • 29 participants.
  • Electronically braked cycle ergometer.
  • Work intervals: Two weekly sessions of 12 x 1 min and one weekly session of 8 x 4 min.
  • Recovery: 1 min active recovery for 1-min intervals; 2 min active recovery for 4-min intervals.
  • Intensity: 90-100% HRpeak for 1-min intervals; 90-95% HRpeak for 4-min intervals.
  • Warm-up and cool-down 5 min each; interval duration varied by session.
  • 3 sessions/week.
  • 12 weeks.
  • Secondary analysis of a two-arm randomized clinical trial
  • Depression, anxiety, and stress, General quality of life, and PCOS-specific quality of life were tracked.

Outcomes

Depression

HIIT reduced depression scores; MICT did not reach significance.

HIIT 5.5 +/- 3.6 to 3.5 +/- 2.9, p=0.005; MICT p=0.070; interaction p=0.479

Improved

Anxiety

HIIT reduced anxiety and improved more than MICT.

HIIT 6.5 +/- 4.6 to 3.2 +/- 4.1, p<0.001; MICT p=0.098; group x time p=0.020

Improved

Stress

Both HIIT and MICT reduced stress scores.

HIIT p=0.003; MICT p=0.001; interaction p=0.641

Improved

Quality of life

HIIT and MICT improved multiple PCOSQ and SF-36 domains, with no significant between-group differences for these domains.

HIIT improved PCOSQ emotions, weight, menstrual problems and SF-36 physical functioning, role emotional, energy, general health; MICT improved PCOSQ emotions/weight and SF-36 role emotional/general health

Mixed

VO2peak

VO2peak improved in both groups, with a significant time-by-group interaction favoring HIIT.

HIIT 24.8 +/- 5.7 to 30.8 +/- 6.7; MICT 22.3 +/- 3.2 to 26.1 +/- 4.1; both p<0.001; interaction p=0.017

Improved

Insights

  • HIIT may be a time-efficient supervised option for improving anxiety and overall mental-health scores in overweight women with PCOS.
  • Both vigorous and moderate cycling improved HRQoL domains, so intensity may be less important for quality-of-life outcomes than exercise participation.
  • High adherence and no adverse events were reported under supervised conditions.

Limitations

  • Secondary analysis not powered for mental-health outcomes.
  • Small sample with 24 completers.
  • No non-exercise control group.
  • No long-term follow-up.
  • Many women using hormonal contraceptives were ineligible, limiting generalizability.

Safety

  • No adverse events occurred during the study period.
  • One HIIT participant withdrew due to an injury sustained at work, not during the intervention, and another became pregnant.