Perimenopause: Window for Exercise and Resilience Pilot Study

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Behavioral
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Not Applicable
SUMMARY

Throughout the menopause transition, women experience many symptoms (i.e., hot flashes, night sweats) that can significantly reduce their quality of life. Moreover, their risk of heart disease increases substantially. The years before menopause called perimenopause present a critical window of intervention to alleviate menopause symptoms and improve health outcomes. Our team is therefore interested in comparing the potential benefits of different approaches including following the Health Canada guidelines (i.e., accumulating 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic physical activity weekly); performing high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which involves alternating periods of intense exercise with periods of rest; or stretching in perimenopause. As a first step towards this goal, this study will assess how easy and enjoyable the interventions are to follow over a 6-week period. The information gained from this study will be used to perform a larger study with enough participants to assess the health and quality of life impacts of adopting these different strategies in perimenopause.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: Female
Minimum Age: 40
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• Biological females in early and late perimenopause. Menopausal stage will be defined according to the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop +10 (STRAW+10). According to STRAW+10, perimenopause is characterized by menstrual cycle irregularity, specifically defined as having bleeding in the previous 12 months but at least a 7-day difference from usual menstrual cycle length

• Experiencing menopause symptoms (e.g., hot flashes, night sweats, joint stiffness)

• Aged 40 years or older

• Multiple risk factors for cardiometabolic disease, namely being sedentary (\<30 min of moderate-vigorous physical activity/week), having a BMI ≥25 kg/m2, and a waist circumference indicative of abdominal obesity, specific to BMI (e.g., BMI 25-29.9: WC: 90cm; BMI 30-34.9: WC: 105cm; BMI 35-35.9: WC:115cm).

Locations
Other Locations
Canada
Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport
RECRUITING
Toronto
Contact Information
Primary
Jenna Gillen, PhD
jenna.gillen@utoronto.ca
14169783244
Backup
Clara Rivaya Salvadores, BKin
clara.rivayasalvadores@mail.utoronto.ca
4169783244
Time Frame
Start Date: 2025-09-01
Estimated Completion Date: 2026-06-30
Participants
Target number of participants: 30
Treatments
Experimental: Guidelines-based moderate-intensity continuous exercise
150 weekly minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity
Experimental: High-intensity interval training
Periods of high intensity effort (1-4 min) interspersed with periods of rest (1-3 min)
Active_comparator: Stretching exercise
whole-body stretching
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Leads: University of Toronto

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov