The effects of core stabilizing exercise in postpartum women with lumbopelvic pain: A systematic review with meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown beneficial effects of core stabilizing exercise in postpartum lumbopelvic pain (LPP). However, effects on quality of life (QoL) and evidence certainty remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To synthesize evidence on the effects of core stabilizing exercise on pain, disability, QoL, and core muscle contractility for postpartum LPP. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted using six databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, Airiti Library, and WANFANG DATA home), covering articles published up to May 2025. Randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials that investigated the core stabilizing exercise in postpartum LPP were included. The primary outcomes were pain, disability, and QoL. The secondary outcome was core muscle contractibility. Study quality and evidence certainty were assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 (RoB 2.0) and GRADE, respectively. Meta-analyses were conducted using the random-effects model. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that core stabilizing exercise significantly improved the pain (SMD = -0.80, 95 %CI: -1.15 to -0.46), disability (SMD = -0.85, 95 % CI: -1.17 to -0.54), and QoL (SMD = 0.44, 95 % CI: 0.06 to 0.82). Study quality was moderate (RoB 2.0), and evidence certainty was high for disability, moderate for pain, and low for QoL (GRADE). The evidence on core muscle contractility was inconclusive due to insufficient and inconsistent data across studies. CONCLUSIONS: The core stabilizing exercise was effective on management of pain, disability, and QoL in postpartum LPP. Future studies with standardized measurement methods are needed to clarify the effect of core stabilizing exercise on core muscle contractibility.