Evidence library · Balance and falls

Does other exercise affect balance and falls in menopause? What 12 studies found

Studies of other exercise in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured balance and falls. 6 reported an improvement and 5 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A meta-analysis of 17 RCTs in postmenopausal women with sarcopenia found exercise interventions improved muscle mass, strength and physical function such as gait speed.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 744 participants pooled · 2026PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

  2. A meta-analysis of 15 RCTs with 1018 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis found traditional Chinese exercises such as Ba Duanjin improved lumbar spine bone density and reduced pain versus controls.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,018 participants pooled · 2025PostmenopausalPubMed

  3. A systematic review of nine studies using virtual reality exercise games in climacteric women found improvements in pelvic floor strength, balance, cardiorespiratory fitness and bone density versus conventional approaches.

    Reported an improvementSystematic review · 298 participants pooled · 2022PerimenopausalCited 5 timesPubMed

  4. Postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fractures did a structured exercise program twice weekly for 12 months and showed better quality of life, balance and functional mobility than controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 78 women · 52 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 39 timesPubMed

  5. A systematic review evaluated treatments including exercise for preventing fractures in postmenopausal women, among drug and non-drug options.

    Direction not statedSystematic review · 2011PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed

  6. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis did 10 months of land or aquatic exercise; land exercise improved muscle strength, flexibility, gait time, pain and bone density more than aquatic exercise.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 58 women · 43 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 22 timesPubMed

  7. Over 10 weeks, sedentary postmenopausal women doing aerobic and strength training with or without whole-body electrostimulation improved strength, agility and speed, with added cardiovascular benefit from electrostimulation.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 34 women · 10 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed

  8. In 32 postmenopausal women aged 62 to 75, six weeks of stair climbing, electrostimulation, or both increased leg strength and vertical jump, with combined training also affecting bone density.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 32 women · 6 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 17 timesPubMed

  9. In postmenopausal women with osteoporosis doing an 18 month exercise program, individually coached and group coached training showed similar improvements in physical function and activity levels.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 52 women · 78 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed

  10. Thirty-four middle-aged women with knee pain did 12 weeks of rehabilitative exercise scheduled in massed or distributed sessions, and both improved balance, functional performance and pain versus control.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 34 women · 12 weeks · 2023Midlife womenCited 3 timesPubMed

  11. An RCT of 51 middle-aged women with chronic low back pain found core stability and postural control training both reduced pain and disability, with postural training also improving proprioception.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 51 women · 2026Midlife womenPubMed

  12. In a 12-week trial, middle-aged women doing home-based slow-paced breathing showed similar balance and aerobic endurance to controls, with no significant between-group differences.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 26 women · 12 weeks · 2025Midlife womenPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and balance and falls