A clinical study of the effect of Glycyrrhiza glabra plant and exercise on the quality of life of menopausal women

BACKGROUND: Most women experience significant changes during and after menopause which causes various complications of menopause and the changes in quality of their life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Glycyrrhiza glabra plant and exercise on quality of life (QOL) of menopausal women. METHODS: This clinical experiment was performed in Arak, Iran. The study subjects consisted of 120 menopausal women. The participants were selected through convenience method and randomly divided into 4 groups of 30 subjects. Group 1 participants were administered 3 Glycyrrhiza glabra tablets daily. Group 2 participants had a regular exercise program. Group 3 participants were simultaneously administered Glycyrrhiza glabr tablets like group 1 and had an exercise program like group 2. Group 4 received no intervention. The participants’ QOL was investigated before and 1 month after the intervention using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software using Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis, and chi-square tests, and variance analysis. RESULTS: No significant difference between the four groups in terms of vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual health, and QOL based on the Kruskal-Wallis test before the intervention. However, a significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual health and QOL after the intervention. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed the efficacy of Glycyrrhiza glabra and exercise programs in controlling the symptoms of menopause. It is recommended that postmenopausal women use exercise programs and Glycyrrhiza glabra to control menopausal symptoms.