Optimal exercise modality and dose for alleviating depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

作者：Peng Xu, Rui Guo, Lei Yang, Junkai Ding · 发表于：Frontiers in Psychology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1743949 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments、Cardiovascular and exercise physiology、Physical Activity and Health

Objective Although physical exercise is widely recognized as an effective non-pharmacological intervention for depressive symptoms, the relative efficacy of different exercise modalities and the optimal dose for postmenopausal women remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the optimal exercise modality and dose for alleviating depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women through a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA), incorporating a model-based network meta-analysis (MBNMA) for dose–response relationships. Methods Five major electronic databases (Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, EBSCO, and Embase) were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of exercise interventions on depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women. The risk of bias in included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool. The NMA and dose–response MBNMA were conducted using R software. Results A total of 33 RCTs involving 2,607 participants were included. The NMA results showed that all four exercise modalities—resistance exercise (RE), mind–body exercise (MBE), aerobic exercise (AE), and combined exercise (CBE)—significantly alleviated depressive symptoms compared to the control group: RE (SMD = −0.90, 95% CI: −1.61 to −0.20), MBE (SMD = −0.75, 95% CI: −1.07 to −0.43), AE (SMD = −0.67, 95% CI: −0.93 to −0.42), and CBE (SMD = −0.63, 95% CI: −1.19 to −0.06). P-score rankings suggested that RE ( p = 0.774) and MBE ( p = 0.662) h...