Do Physical Exercises and Physical Activity Generate Positive Effects on Sleep Quality and Urinary Incontinence in...

This systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of physical exercise and physical activity on sleep quality and urinary incontinence in menopausal women and to assess the strength of evidence from randomized clinical trials. Following the PRISMA checklist, this study was registered in PROSPERO (CDR42024587503), five databases were searched (i.e., Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed Central^®) from October 2017 to November 2017, including randomized clinical trials that assessed certain types of physical exercise and physical activity for urinary incontinence and/or sleep quality in menopausal women, which were written in English and published in the last 10 years. Fourteen articles were selected for this review, which assessed 1,230 women for sleep quality and 482 women for urinary incontinence. A low risk of bias and moderate to high methodological quality were observed in most studies. With regard to sleep quality, the studies showed high heterogeneity (I² = 90%), with a 95% CI of -4.32 to -3.37 (P < 0.01), suggesting favorable results for the groups receiving physical exercise and physical activity interventions. With regard to urinary incontinence, the studies showed high heterogeneity (I² = 97%), with a 95% CI (-0.95 to -0.07, P < 0.01), indicating favorable results for specific pelvic floor strengthening exercises. In summary, physical exercise and physical activity were shown to improve sleep quality and urinary incontinence, but caution is needed when assessing the specific effects of different types of exercise on each outcome.