Effects of Jacobson Relaxation Exercises and Deep Breathing Exercises on Post Menopausal Stress and Quality of Life

Abstract

Purpose. Post-menopausal women have increased stress and decreased well-being as a result of hormonal imbalance, physical discomfort, and mood change. Jacobson relaxation and deep breathing exercises, though identified to decrease stress, their efficacy in post-menopausal women has seldom been studied. This study aims to find the impact of Jacobson Relaxation Exercises (JRE) and Deep Breathing Exercises (DBE) on reducing stress and improving the quality of life among post-menopausal women. Material & Methods. The study was carried out among 48 participants by simple random sampling through a lottery method and was split into two groups of 24 participants each. Group A & B received JRE & DBE for 30 minutes, four times a week for four days respectively. Stress level was assessed by Perceived Stress Scale, and quality of life was assessed by Menopausal Rating Scale. Results. Our study found that patients with post-menopause who received deep breathing exercise therapy (Group A) and Jacobson relaxation exercises (Group B) both showed significant improvement, with only small differences between the groups. Among them, those who underwent deep breathing exercises showed better improvement. The members of Group B had larger gains in their PSS scores compared to those in Group A, with Group A averaging 16.42 and Group B averaging 11.00. Furthermore, Group B also showed greater improvement in the MRS, with an average of 10.58 static stands, while Group A had an average of 19.13. These results were later confirmed by effect size measurements, which revealed strong effects with estimated Cohen's d values of 3.951 and 2.822 for PSS and MRS, respectively, in Group A. In contrast, Group B had paired sample effect sizes of 3.997 for PSS and 3.744 for MRS. While both interventions led to statistically significant improvements (p<0.001), the greater mean differences and effect sizes suggest that deep breathing exercise is a more effective method for enhancing balance and mobility in patients with diabetic neuropathy. Conclusions. The study found that deep breathing and Jacobson relaxation exercises led to comparable improvements in participants, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Despite this, deep breathing exercises showed promising results in enhancing stress and quality of life. As a non-invasive intervention, deep breathing exercise appears to be an effective option for addressing stress and quality of life in individuals with post menopause.