International Journal of Women's Health · Jul 14, 2026

Unravelling the Association of Physical Exercise, Quality of Life and Sleep Quality Among Chinese Perimenopausal Women

By Li Y, Liu X, Zhou J et al.

PURPOSE: To examine cross-sectional associations between physical exercise, quality of life (QoL), and sleep quality in perimenopausal women, and identify other key correlates. METHODS: This single-center cross-sectional study recruited 457 perimenopausal women (convenience sampling) from the Second Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Jinan, China) between January 2022 and October 2025. Assessments included Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI), MENQOL, PSQI, and IPAQ-L. Women reporting regular moderate-to-vigorous exercise (≥3 times/week, ≥30 min/session) formed the exercise group (n=279); others formed the non-exercise group (n=178). Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression were used. RESULTS: The exercise group had significantly lower (better) KMI, MENQOL, and PSQI scores (all P<0.05). Exercise showed small negative correlations with PSQI and MENQOL (r=-0.102 to -0.157). After adjusting for monthly income, regression showed that higher KMI, higher PSQI, and lower education were independently associated with poorer QoL; coronary heart disease (low prevalence) was also associated with poorer QoL, whereas other economic sources were associated with better QoL (adjusted R²=0.569). For sleep quality, independent associations included higher KMI, worse physical status, worse sexual function, shorter sleep duration, and lack of regular exercise (adjusted R²=0.428; all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Regular exercise was associated with better QoL and sleep quality, partly explained by less severe menopausal symptoms. However, causality cannot be inferred, and effect sizes were small (|r|<0.2), likely below minimal clinically important differences. Exercise is one contributing factor among many. Limitations include cross-sectional design, self-reported data, convenience sampling, and low coronary heart disease prevalence. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable (observational study).

doi.org/10.2147/ijwh.s603641Open accessPubMed 42519497Populations