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

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a pooled analysis of three published trials of non-pharmacological interventions for menopausal hot flashes in order 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 per day 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 31% to 41%. These five groups did not differ significantly from each other, but all showed significantly greater reduction in hot flash frequency compared to 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 to controls.

Yoga and acupuncture versus “sham” treatments for menopausal hot flashes: how do they compare?

“…5 Similarly, yoga appears to be a safe and effective means of reducing menopausal symptoms comparable to other exercise interventions, but with an added effect on VMS. 6 The article published in this issue of Menopause by Avis et al 7 confirms the benefits of acupuncture and yoga on hot flashes, but also reports similar positive effects in attention control groups receiving either sham acupuncture or health and wellness education, compared to usual care and waitlist control.…”

Evidence-Based Use of Yoga in the Management of Menopausal Symptoms

“…Araştırma sonucunda yoganın sıcak basması üzerine belirgin bir etkisi olduğu bildirilmiştir. 29 (KD.1c)…”

Effectiveness of electro-press needle for menopause-associated hot flashes

“…Notably, the placebo effects of sham acupuncture are reported to be stronger than that of a placebo tablet [11] . Second, sham acupuncture is hard to act as an inert control because either tiny acupuncture or noninsertion acupuncture using blunt-tip needles may produce certain biological effects [7,12] …”

“…[11] Second, sham acupuncture is hard to act as an inert control because either tiny acupuncture or noninsertion acupuncture using blunt-tip needles may produce certain biological effects. [7,12] To clarify the controversy whether acupuncture works in treating perimenopausal and postmenopausal HF or not, this randomized controlled trial is designed to compare acupuncture intervention group against the nonintervention group. Electro Press Needle (EPN), a novel acupuncture needle combining shallow and gentle insertion with transdermal electrical stimulation, will be used in the acupuncture intervention group.…”