A pooled analysis of three studies of nonpharmacological interventions for menopausal hot flashes.

Journal Article (Journal Article;Review)

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to conduct a pooled analysis of three published trials of nonpharmacological interventions for menopausal hot flashes to compare the effectiveness of interventions. METHODS: Data from three randomized controlled trials of interventions for hot flashes (two acupuncture trials, one yoga trial) were pooled. All three studies recruited perimenopausal or postmenopausal women experiencing ≥4 hot flashes/d on average. The primary outcome for all three studies was frequency of hot flashes as measured by the Daily Diary of Hot Flashes. Study 1 participants were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of acupuncture treatments (active intervention), sham acupuncture (attention control), or usual care. Study 2 participants were randomly assigned to 10 weeks of yoga classes, health and wellness education classes (attention control), or waitlist control. Study 3 randomly assigned participants to 6 months of acupuncture or waitlist control. To standardize the time frame for these analyses, only the first 8 weeks of intervention from all three studies were used. RESULTS: The three active interventions and the two attention control groups had statistically similar trends in the percentage reduction of hot flashes over 8 weeks, ranging from 35% to 40%. These five groups did not differ significantly from each other, but all showed significantly greater reduction in hot flash frequency compared with the three usual care/waitlist groups. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture, yoga, and health and wellness education classes all demonstrated statistically similar effectiveness in reduction of hot flash frequency compared with controls.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Avis, NE; Levine, BJ; Danhauer, S; Coeytaux, RR

Published Date

  • April 2019

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 26 / 4

Start / End Page

  • 350 - 356

PubMed ID

  • 30363012

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC6435413

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1530-0374

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1097/GME.0000000000001255

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States