The effect of pregnancy and the duration of postpartum convalescence on the physical fitness of healthy women: A cohort study of active duty servicewomen receiving 6 weeks versus 12 weeks convalescence.

Autor: DeGroot DW; Fort Benning Heat Center, Martin Army Community Hospital, Fort Benning, Georgia, United States of America., Sitler CA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America., Lustik MB; Department of Clinical Investigation, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America., Langan KL; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, United States of America., Hauret KG; Army Public Health Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States of America., Gotschall MH; Department of Pediatrics, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America., Gehrich AP; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2021 Jul 28; Vol. 16 (7), pp. e0255248. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jul 28 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255248
Abstrakt: Introduction: Pregnancy profoundly affects cardiovascular and musculoskeletal performance requiring up to 12 months for recovery in healthy individuals.
Objective: To assess the effects of extending postpartum convalescence from 6 to 12 weeks on the physical fitness of Active Duty (AD) soldiers as measured by the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and Body Mass Index (BMI).
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of AD soldiers who delivered their singleton pregnancy of ≥ 32weeks gestation at a tertiary medical center. Pre- and post-pregnancy APFT results as well as demographic, pregnancy, and postpartum data were collected. Changes in APFT raw scores, body composition measures, and failure rates across the 6-week and 12-week convalescent cohorts were assessed. Multivariable regressions were utilized to associate risk factors with failure.
Results: Four hundred sixty women met inclusion criteria; N = 358 in the 6 week cohort and N = 102 in the 12 week cohort. Demographic variables were similar between the cohorts. APFT failure rates across pregnancy increased more than 3-fold in both groups, but no significant differences were found between groups in the decrement of performance or weight gain. With the combined cohort, multivariable regression analysis showed failure on the postpartum APFT to be independently associated with failure on the pre-pregnancy APFT (OR = 16.92, 95% CI 4.96-57.77), failure on pre-pregnancy BMI (OR = 8.44, 95% CI 2.23-31.92), elevated BMI at 6-8 weeks postpartum (OR = 4.02, 95% CI 1.42-11.35) and not breastfeeding at 2 months (OR = 3.23, 95% CI 1.48-7.02). Within 36 months of delivery date, 75% of women had achieved pre-pregnancy levels of fitness.
Conclusion: An additional 6 weeks of convalescence did not adversely affect physical performance or BMI measures in AD Army women following pregnancy. Modifiable factors such as pre- and post-pregnancy conditioning and weight, weight gain in pregnancy and always breastfeeding were found to be significant in recovery of physical fitness postpartum.
Competing Interests: No authors have competing interests.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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