This moderate to large effect size , showing lower ratings of depressed mood in treated patients compared with controls , implicated HRT as a potential treatment of or prophylactic for depression in menopausal women .
One can generalize from the studies review ed here only with great caution , but there is little evidence to support the use of estradiol to improve mood in nondepressed patients ( not surprisingly ) and some evidence to support the antidepressant efficacy of estradiol in perimenopausal but not postmenopausal women
BACKGROUND Controversy regarding the antidepressant efficacy of hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ) stems almost from its inception and reflects the same method ological inconsistencies that have compromised efforts to determine whether the perimenopause is accompanied by an increase in mood symptoms or depression .
Since this publication , multiple studies have aim ed to discern the relationship between HRT and menopausal mood .
METHODS The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the findings and quality of the evidence amassed since Zweifel and O'Brien 's meta- analysis .
Combined versus Sequential Hormonal Replacement Therapy: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study on Quality of Life-Related Outcome Measures
Background : To compare combined and sequential hormonal replacement therapies to each other as well as placebo in patients suffering from the postmenopausal syndrome . Clinical outcomes were measured concerning both the specific postmenopausal symptoms ( using the Kupperman scale ) and health or well-being dimensions ( using subscales of the General Health Question naire and specific depression and anxiety scales ) . Methods : A prospect i ve r and omized double-blind study over 12 months of 105 normal early postmenopausal women in the setting of a general hospital . Results : Both hormone replacement therapies were superior to placebo on the Kupperman scale ( sweating , hot flushing , myalgia and vertigo ) . The psychic symptoms on the Kupperman scale were psychometrically invalid . However , psychic symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and the General Health Question naire were significantly improved by the hormonal replacement therapies . No differences were observed when combined therapy was compared to sequential therapy . Conclusion : One-year treatment with hormonal replacement therapy is superior to placebo in measuring the somatic and psychic symptoms of the menopausal syndrome . No differences were found in this respect between combined and sequential replacement therapy
This moderate to large effect size , showing lower ratings of depressed mood in treated patients compared with controls , implicated HRT as a potential treatment of or prophylactic for depression in menopausal women .
One can generalize from the studies review ed here only with great caution , but there is little evidence to support the use of estradiol to improve mood in nondepressed patients ( not surprisingly ) and some evidence to support the antidepressant efficacy of estradiol in perimenopausal but not postmenopausal women
BACKGROUND Controversy regarding the antidepressant efficacy of hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ) stems almost from its inception and reflects the same method ological inconsistencies that have compromised efforts to determine whether the perimenopause is accompanied by an increase in mood symptoms or depression .
Since this publication , multiple studies have aim ed to discern the relationship between HRT and menopausal mood .
METHODS The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the findings and quality of the evidence amassed since Zweifel and O'Brien 's meta- analysis .