Effectiveness of Pilates Exercises in the Treatment of Dysmenorrhea: A Randomized Controlled Trial

November 14, 2025 updated by: Doç.Dr.Ömer Şevgin, Uskudar University
The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of Pilates exercises in the treatment of dysmenorrhea and to contribute to the literature and information on this subject.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The study was planned as a randomized controlled study. The study will be conducted at the Fizyorapt physiotherapy and exercise consultancy center. It will be divided into 2 main groups as those between the ages of 18-50, those with a menstrual period of 3-9 days, those with menstrual pain complaints, and those who cooperate in completing the assessment scales. Participants will be asked to continue the given exercises for 6 weeks, 2 days a week and 45 minutes. People with psychological and physical disabilities will not be included in regular exercise. A personal information form will be prepared by the researcher in order to collect data on the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants. Visual analog scale (VAS) will be used to measure pain intensity and pain relief, Beck depression scale to determine depression symptoms, and menstruation symptom scale to evaluate menstrual pain and symptoms. These surveys will be repeated before and at the end of the study. The data to be obtained will be evaluated using the SPSS24 package program.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
56

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female individuals between the ages of 18-50
  • Those with a menstrual period of 3-9 days
  • Having menstrual pain complaints in most of their menstrual cycles
  • Cooperating in completing the assessment scales

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having a history of abdominal surgery
  • Having an active infection

  • Having knee pain

    -. Using medication

  • Participants with any pathology that prevents exercise will not be included in the study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: control group
those who did not receive any intervention
Other: control
There is no intervention
Experimental: reformer exercise group
They will practice reformer pilates exercises
Other: reformer

Reformer exercises:

Foodwork Swan Short Spin Long Stretch Keen Stretch Hug Tree Bridge Pulling Straps Short Box Abdominal Hundred Twist Star
Experimental: mat exercise group
They will practice mat pilates exercises
Other: mat

Mat exercises:

Neck exercises Trunk stabilization exercises Shoulder exercises Posture exercises

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Menstruation Symptom Scale
Time Frame: 14 weeks
It is a 5-point Likert-type scale and consists of three sub-parameters: 'negative effects/somatic effects', 'menstrual pain' and 'coping methods', and 22 items. The person is asked to give a score between '1' never and '5' always for the symptoms they experience related to menstruation. The Menstruation Symptom Scale (MSS) score is calculated by taking the total score average. An increase in the mean score indicates an increase in the severity of menstrual symptoms.
14 weeks
Visual Analogue Scale
Time Frame: 14 weeks
Participants were included in the "healthy" category when they marked the 0-1 range of the scale, and were included in the "Menstruation pain" category when they marked the 1.1-10 range. They were divided into 3 groups according to pain severity. 1.1-3: Mild pain, 3.1-7: Moderate pain, 7.1-10: Severe pain.
14 weeks
Fatigue Severity Scale
Time Frame: 14 weeks
It consists of 9 questions. Each question is scored between 1 and 7. Statements Regarding Scoring 1. I strongly disagree 3. I tend to disagree 5. I tend to agree 2. I disagree 4. I am undecided 6. I agree 7. I strongly agree. ) the score of the answers given to the question is added and divided by 9. If the result is less than 2.8, it is evaluated as "no fatigue". If the result is greater than 6.1, it is considered as "chronic fatigue syndrome
14 weeks
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
Time Frame: 14 weeks
It was developed by Buysse et al. (1989) (34). The scale is a safe and consistent questionnaire that evaluates the amount of sleep, sleep quality, presence and severity of sleep disorders in individuals in the last month. It was adapted into Turkish by Ağargün et al. (1996) (35). There are seven components in Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index. These components are subjective sleep quality (component 1), sleep latency (component 2), sleep duration (component 3), habitual sleep efficiency (component 4), sleep disturbance (component 5), sleep medication use (component 6) and daytime dysfunction. (component 7). The evaluation score of each item is between 0-3. The total score obtained varies between 0-21. The higher the score, the worse the sleep quality.
14 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Uskudar University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Chair: Sümeyye Postacı, Uskudar University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 20, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 10, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 8, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 8, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 14, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 17, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 14, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Uskudar19

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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