Home-Based Exercise Program Improves Fitness in HIV Positive Women

While many people with HIV experience fatigue, it is still important to get regular moderate exercise. A recent study, reported in the June 12, 2006 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that a home-based aerobic and resistance-training exercise program improved overall physical fitness in women with HIV.

Sara Dolan, MSN, Steven Grinspoon, MD, and their team at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University have conducted extensive research on wasting, fitness, and exercise in HIV positive people. The current study evaluated a 16-week supervised home-based progressive resistance training and aerobic exercise program. It included 40 HIV positive women who had increased waist-to-hip ratios and self-reported body fat changes.

During the study, cardiovascular and respiratory fitness were assessed on the basis of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max). Cross-sectional muscle area and muscle attenuation were measured using computed tomography (CT) scans. Muscle strength was also assessed.

Results

At baseline, cardio-respiratory fitness in the HIV positive women was markedly lower than previously reported values for healthy HIV negative women (median VO2 15.4 vs 26-35 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1), respectively; 95% CI 8.3-25.2).
HIV positive women randomly assigned to the exercise program experience significant improvement in fitness compared with non-exercising women.
Exercising women experienced a mean VO2 max improvement of 1.5 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1), compared with a mean decline of -2.5 in non-exercising women (P < 0.001).
Endurance in the exercising women increased by a mean of 1.0 minute, compared with a decrease of 0.6 minute in the non-exercising women (P < 0.001).
Exercising women experienced increased strength of the knee extensor, pectoralis, knee flexor, shoulder abductor, ankle plantar flexor, and elbow flexor muscles (all P < 0.001).
Total muscle area increased more in the exercise group compared with the non-exercise group (6 vs 2 cm2; P = 0.02).
No significant differences between the two groups were seen in blood lipid levels, blood pressure, or abdominal visceral fat.
Women who exercised reported greater energy and improved appearance.

Conclusion

The researchers concluded that a 16-week supervised home-based exercise regimen improved measures of physical fitness in HIV positive women. "The effects on strength were most significant," they said, "but improvements in cardio-respiratory fitness, endurance, and body composition were also seen."

7/14/06

Reference
S E Dolan, W Frontera, J Librizzi, and others. Effects of a Supervised Home-Based Aerobic and Progressive Resistance Training Regimen in Women Infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Randomized Trial. Archives of Internal Medicine 166(11): 1225-1231. June 12, 2006.