#Grand Rounds

Can Mindfulness Alleviate Menopausal Hot Flashes?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Van Driel et al. (BJOG, 2018) assessed the effectiveness of psychological interventions, including mindfulness, in reducing menopausal symptoms, both natural or treatment-induced

12 RCTs
Short-term benefit of psychological interventions in comparison to no treatment or control
- Hot flush bother: Standardized mean difference (SMD) −0.54 (95% CI, −0.74 to −0.35; P < 0.001)
- Menopausal symptoms: SMD −0.34 (95% CI, −0.52 to −0.15; P < 0.001)
Medium-term benefit of psychological interventions in comparison to no treatment or control
- Hot flush bother: SMD −0.38 (95% CI, −0.58 to −0.18; P < 0.001)
Subgroup analysis of both treatment-induced menopause and natural menopause demonstrated positive short-term and medium-term benefit of psychological interventions
- Short-term induced: SMD −0.47 (95% CI, −0.69 to −0.25; P < 0.001)
- Short-term natural: SMD −0.85 (95% CI, −1.11 to −0.59; P < 0.001)
Too few studies to report accurately regarding sexual functioning

Psychological treatments such as mindfulness successfully reduced bother of hot flushes in short- and medium-term follow- up, as well as menopausal symptoms overall in the short-term
Because hot flush frequency was not impacted, authors suggest the mechanism of these interventions is to enhance coping skills and thus reduce impact of symptoms

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