Evidence library · Menopause symptoms overall

Does tai chi and qigong affect menopause symptoms overall in menopause? What 6 studies found

Studies of tai chi and qigong in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured menopause symptoms overall. 5 reported an improvement and 1 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A systematic review of 18 trials found that yoga, tai chi, meditation and relaxation practices often improved overall menopausal symptoms, hot flushes, mood, sleep and musculoskeletal pain.

    Reported an improvementSystematic review · 882 participants pooled · 2010Midlife womenCited 58 timesPubMed

  2. A meta-analysis of 12 trials with 1,050 women found exercise and mind-body exercise improved menopausal symptoms, quality of life, anxiety, and depressive symptoms compared with controls.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,050 participants pooled · 2026Midlife womenPubMed

  3. A meta-analysis of 12 RCTs with 1023 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women found Traditional Chinese Exercise reduced menopausal symptoms and depression and improved spine bone density, but not quality of life.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,023 participants pooled · 2026Midlife womenPubMed

  4. Postmenopausal women did a 12-week Qigong program and reported improved menopausal symptom severity and better health-related quality of life compared to controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 125 women · 12 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalCited 7 timesPubMed

  5. In 70 perimenopausal women, a 12 week daily Ping Shuai Qigong program improved climacteric symptoms and sleep quality at 6 and 12 weeks compared to a control group.

    Reported an improvementControlled trial · 70 women · 12 weeks · 2012PerimenopausalCited 31 timesPubMed

  6. Perimenopausal women received a 12-week combined traditional Chinese medicine program including tai chi, herbs and counseling, and menopause-specific quality of life scores improved.

    No difference foundControlled trial · 12 weeks · 2011PerimenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

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 menopause symptoms overall