Can massage ameliorate menopausal and postmenopausal symptoms in women? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review and meta-analysis study explores the effect of massage on comprehensive menopause symptoms, including vasomotor, physical, psychological, sexual, sleep, anxiety, depression, and fatigue in menopausal and postmenopausal women. METHODS: The following English databases, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, and other databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between inception and Oct 25, 2025. RCTs that investigated the efficacy of massage on menopause symptoms were included. Revman software (version 5.0) was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Massage showed benefits for most menopause outcomes in the total index of the menopause rating scale (MRS) after treatment (P = 0.0007), somatic subscale (P = 0.001), psychosocial subscale (P < 0.00001), but showed no significant effect on the urogenital subscale (P = 0.22). There were some benefits for the menopause-specific quality of life (MENQOL) vasomotor (P = 0.08), psychosocial (P = 0.05), physical (P = 0.22), and sexual subscales (P = 0.04). The discrepancy between the MRS and MENQOL subscales was explored and discussed. The effects of massage on other indices showed some but not all benefits, including the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI; P = 0.87), Beck anxiety inventory (BAI; P = 0.0004), Beck depression inventory (BDI; P < 0.00001), Short Form 36 Health survey (SF-36) mental subscale (P = 0.76), and fatigue severity scale (P < 0.00001). The heterogeneities of most studies were not high. CONCLUSIONS: Massage significantly improves psychological, depressive, anxious, and fatigue-related symptoms in menopausal and postmenopausal women but does not show significant effects on urogenital, sleep-related, and other physical symptoms. It can be recommended as an effective therapy for menopausal and postmenopausal syndromes.