SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Rheumatology
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrative Approaches to Fibromyalgia: Advancing Multidisciplinary Management StrategiesView all 3 articles
Effects of exercise on pain, fatigue, and quality of life in people with fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Physical Education, Huzhou University, Huzhou, China
- 2Beijing Key Laboratory of Sports Performance and Skill Assessment, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
- 3Department of Strength and Conditioning Assessment and Monitoring, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
- 4China Institute of Sport and Health Science, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: An increasing number of studies have explored the effects of exercise on pain, fatigue, and quality of life (QOL) in fibromyalgia patients, yet the available results remain inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the effects of exercise on pain, fatigue, and QOL in fibromyalgia patients. Methods: A comprehensive literature search, restricted to studies published up to 30 July 2025, was conducted across five databases: Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus. The search utilized the following keywords: exercise, fibromyalgia, pain, fatigue, and quality of life. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval. Results: Twenty-four studies were included in this meta-analysis. Exercise had a positive effect on alleviating pain (SMD, -0.77; P < 0.00001), fatigue (SMD, -0.39; P = 0.03), and QOL (SMD, 0.53; P < 0.00001) in fibromyalgia patients. Subgroup analyses showed that aerobic exercise (SMD, -0.83; P = 0.0002) conducted for ≥8 weeks (SMD, -0.73; P = 0.006), < 3 times per week (SMD, -1.12; P = 0.0009), 60 to 90 min per session (SMD, -1.35; P = 0.0001), and < 180 min per week (SMD, -0.96; P = 0.001) were more effective in alleviating pain. Conclusion: Exercise significantly improved pain, fatigue, and QOL in fibromyalgia patients. To alleviate pain, fibromyalgia patients are recommended to engage in aerobic exercise for at least 8 weeks, 60-90 min per session, twice weekly, without exceeding 180 min weekly.
Keywords: Exercise, Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Meta-analysis, Pain, Quality of Life, Systematic review
Received: 07 Jan 2026; Accepted: 09 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Wang, Su, Zhou, Du, Lv and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yuanyuan Lv
Laikang Yu
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.