Effects of exercise on vasomotor symptoms in menopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The frequency and severity of menopausal vasomotor symptoms negatively impact quality of life. This systematic review evaluates the potential of exercise to relieve the subjective frequency and severity of vasomotor symptoms. We searched four databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effect of structured exercise (e.g. aerobic training) on the severity and/or frequency of vasomotor symptoms in menopausal women. Two reviewers independently screened records for eligibility, extracted data and assessed risks of bias and evidence certainty using the Cochrane tool and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). When suitable, data were pooled using random-effect meta-analyses. We appraised 21 RCTs involving 2884 participants. Compared to no-treatment control, exercise significantly improved severity of vasomotor symptoms (10 studies, standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.25; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04 to 0.47, p = 0.02, very low certainty of evidence); the effect size was attenuated when studies with a high risk of bias were excluded (SMD = 0.11, 95% CI: -0.03 to 0.26, p = 0.13). No significant changes in vasomotor frequency were found between exercise and control (SMD = 0.14, 95% CI: -0.03 to 0.31, p = 0.12, high certainty of evidence). In conclusion, exercise might improve vasomotor symptom severity. Future rigorous RCTs addressing the limitations of current review are warranted to explore the optimal exercise prescription principles to target the severity of vasomotor symptoms.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of interval training versus moderate-intensity continuous training on body adiposity.

Interval training (including high-intensity interval training [HIIT] and sprint interval training [SIT]) is promoted in both scientific and lay media as being a superior and time-efficient method for fat loss compared with traditional moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT). We evaluated the efficacy of HIIT/SIT when directly compared with MICT for the modulation of body adiposity. Databases were searched to 31 August 2016 for studies with exercise training interventions with minimum 4-week duration. Meta-analyses were conducted for within-group and between-group comparisons for total body fat percentage (%) and fat mass (kg). To investigate heterogeneity, we conducted sensitivity and meta-regression analyses. Of the 6,074 studies netted, 31 were included. Within-group analyses demonstrated reductions in total body fat (%) (HIIT/SIT: -1.26 [95% CI: -1.80; -0.72] and MICT: -1.48 [95% CI: -1.89; -1.06]) and fat mass (kg) (HIIT/SIT: -1.38 [95% CI: -1.99; -0.77] and MICT: -0.91 [95% CI: -1.45; -0.37]). There were no differences between HIIT/SIT and MICT for any body fat outcome. Analyses comparing MICT with HIIT/SIT protocols of lower time commitment and/or energy expenditure tended to favour MICT for total body fat reduction (p = 0.09). HIIT/SIT appears to provide similar benefits to MICT for body fat reduction, although not necessarily in a more time-efficient manner. However, neither short-term HIIT/SIT nor MICT produced clinically meaningful reductions in body fat.