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HT failed to improve quality of life in women without hot flashes
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Hormone therapy did not yield any significant quality-of-life benefits compared with placebo in women without severe hot flashes at baseline. However, women with hot flashes at baseline experienced improvements to sleep, memory and more, according to researchers.
There has been a long debate over this issue, according a statement by Margery Gass, MD, NCMP, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, consultant at Cleveland Clinic Center for Specialized Women’s Health, and clinical professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Margery Gass
“This new, well-designed study puts forth good evidence that hormone therapy does not improve quality of life in recently menopausal women who do not have numerous hot flashes,” Gass said in a press release.
Hanna Savolainen-Peltonen, MD, PhD, of the Helsinki University Central Hospital in Finland, and colleagues prospectively interviewed 150 healthy women about their experiences with vasomotor symptoms, quality of life and general health.
Half of the women with hot flashes (n=72) and half of those without hot flashes (n=78) were randomly assigned for 6 months to transdermal estradiol (1 mg daily) or oral estradiol (2 mg daily) with or without medroxyprogesterone acetate (5 mg daily). The other half from each group received placebo.
Hot flashes were significantly correlated with poor sleep at baseline (P<.0001), muscle pains (P<.0001), menstrual cycle-resembling complaints (P<.0001), anxiety and fears (P<.0001), decreased memory and concentration (P=.001), and sexual behavior (P=.035).
Looking at women who had baseline hot flashes 6 months into the study, HT significantly improved sleep scores (0.787 vs. 0.557; P=.001), memory and concentration capacity (0.849 vs. 0.454; P<.0001), anxiety and fears (0.942 vs. 0.826; P=.005) compared with placebo, according to data.
However, in patients without severe baseline hot flashes, HT demonstrated no significant quality-of-life benefits, researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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