Relationships between the Short- and Long-term Changes in Exercise Habit and Body Composition, Blood Pressure and Health-related Quality of Life among Health Program Participants

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between change in exercise habit and changes in body composition, blood pressure and health-related quality of life among participants in a health-guidance program with no exercise habit. [Subjects] The subjects were 3 males and 12 females (mean age, 65.4 years). [Methods] The intervention was a 6-month exercise- and nutritional-guidance program. Outcome measures were body composition, blood pressure, and health-related quality of life based on the physical and mental components summary of the SF-36. Measurements were performed at baseline, post-intervention, and 6 months post-intervention (follow-up). At baseline, post-intervention (short-term change) and follow-up (long-term change), the outcome measures were compared between the 'exercising group' who had established an exercise habit at follow-up and the 'non-exercising group' who had not. [Results] At baseline, the physical component summary of the non-exercising group was significantly lower than that of the exercising group. In the long-term, the exercising group tended to have a greater decrease in waist circumference than the non-exercising group. [Conclusion] The reason why a significant effect of the health-guidance program was not found over the short-term might be that the physical component summary of the non-exercising group was lower than that of the exercising group.