SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2025
Efficacy and safety of therapeutic exercise for primary dysmenorrhea: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Self-management strategies for menstrual cycle symptoms: a systematic review.BMC women's health · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of exercise interventions on negative affect, pain, and fatigue in women with premenstrual syndrome.BMC women's health · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of pelvic floor muscle training with or without dynamic neuromuscular stabilization-based breathing on menstrual pain and symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized controlled trial.BMC women's health · 2026Trial
- Effectiveness of Therapeutic Exercise in Reducing the Severity of Primary Dysmenorrhea and Associated Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Associations between physical activity, sleep patterns and diet quality and menstrual health symptoms in midlife: evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study.BMC women's health · 2026Article
- Effect of isometric exercises and self-care activities on primary dysmenorrhea among secondary school students: A quasi-experimental study.Journal of public health research · 2026Article
- Real-world treatment patterns in patients with dysmenorrhea in Japan: a retrospective database study.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: A growing number of research papers have looked at the influence of exercise on pain severity in people with primary dysmenorrhea, but the findings have been inconsistent. The purpose of this research was to thoroughly evaluate the impact of exercise on pain severity in individuals with primary dysmenorrhea and to find the best exercise regimen for these patients. Methods: All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise for patients with primary dysmenorrhea were searched in the Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, EBSCO, and CINAHL databases. The search time limit was set from the establishment of each database to 28 January 2025. Control groups included those receiving usual care, only providing health education, or no intervention at all. The outcome measure was pain intensity. The effect size was aggregated using the mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Stata 15 software was used for meta-analysis, sensitivity analysis, and assessment of potential publication bias. R 4.4.1 software was used for network meta-analysis, area under curve ranking (SUCRA), league plot, and meta-regression. Results: The analysis included a total of 29 studies that satisfied the criteria. Exercise decreased the visual analog scale (VAS, WMD = -2.62, 95% CI [-3.29, -1.95], Conclusion: Engaging in physical activity may reduce the intensity of discomfort encountered by individuals afflicted with primary dysmenorrhea, with strength training potentially emerging as the most efficacious alternative. The meta-analysis presents evidence that supports clinicians' advice to patients with primary dysmenorrhea, recommending that they exercise for a minimum of 8 weeks, with sessions occurring more than three times weekly and lasting longer than 30 min each. The goal is to achieve a minimum weekly total of 90 min by increasing the frequency of workouts. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024581879, CRD42024581879.
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