Trial reportMenopause (New York, N.Y.)2014
Efficacy of exercise for menopausal symptoms: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 177 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of exercise interventions on depressive symptoms in perimenopausal women in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Exercise modalities and dose-response associations with anxiety and depression in postmenopausal women: a network meta-analysis and model-based dose-response study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Optimal doses of different exercise types for improving depressive symptoms in climacteric women: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of different physical activity interventions on depressive symptoms in menopausal women: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of physical activity on depressive and anxiety symptoms of women in the menopausal transition and menopause: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of different physical activity interventions on women's sleep: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of exercise interventions on subjective sleep quality in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Exercise as a therapeutic strategy for depression in menopausal women: a metaanalysis of randomized trials.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of aerobic exercise on sleep disorder in menopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analyses.BMC women's health · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of different physiotherapy modalities on insomnia and depression in perimenopausal, menopausal, and post-menopausal women: a systematic review.BMC women's health · 2023Pooled it
- Evaluating the Effects of Symptom Monitoring on Menopausal Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in global women's health · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Exercise on Sleep Quality and Insomnia in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Variation in menopausal vasomotor symptoms outcomes in clinical trials: a systematic review.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2020Pooled it
- Survivorship, Version 2.2017, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN · 2017Guideline
- Exercise for vasomotor menopausal symptoms.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Effectiveness of face-to-face and web-based exercise programs on health outcomes in early postmenopausal women: a randomized trial.BMC women's health · 2026Trial
- Qigong for mental health and sleep quality in postmenopausal women: A randomized controlled trial.Medicine · 2022Trial
- Women's views about physical activity as a treatment for vasomotor menopausal symptoms: a qualitative study.BMC women's health · 2020Trial
- Confirmatory factor analysis of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and invariance across race: a pooled analysis of MsFLASH data.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2019Trial
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on byTo the Editor.2020
Authors and funding
16 authors at 8 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study aims to determine the efficacy of exercise training for alleviating vasomotor and other menopausal symptoms.
methodsLate perimenopausal and postmenopausal sedentary women with frequent vasomotor symptoms (VMS) participated in a randomized controlled trial conducted in three sites: 106 women randomized to exercise and 142 women randomized to usual activity. The exercise intervention consisted of individual facility-based aerobic exercise training three times per week for 12 weeks. VMS frequency and bother were recorded on daily diaries at baseline and on weeks 6 and 12. Intent-to-treat analyses compared between-group differences in changes in VMS frequency and bother, sleep symptoms (Insomnia Severity Index and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and mood (Patient Health Questionnaire-8 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire).
resultsAt the end of week 12, changes in VMS frequency in the exercise group (mean change, -2.4 VMS/d; 95% CI, -3.0 to -1.7) and VMS bother (mean change on a four-point scale, -0.5; 95% CI, -0.6 to -0.4) were not significantly different from those in the control group (-2.6 VMS/d; 95% CI, -3.2 to -2.0; P = 0.43; -0.5 points; 95% CI, -0.6 to -0.4; P = 0.75). The exercise group reported greater improvement in insomnia symptoms (P = 0.03), subjective sleep quality (P = 0.01), and depressive symptoms (P = 0.04), but differences were small and not statistically significant when P values were adjusted for multiple comparisons. Results were similar when considering treatment-adherent women only.
conclusionsThese findings provide strong evidence that 12 weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise do not alleviate VMS but may result in small improvements in sleep quality, insomnia, and depression in midlife sedentary women.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.