Trial reportJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2008
Effects of dehydroepiandrosterone supplementation on cognitive function and quality of life: the DHEA and Well-Ness (DAWN) Trial.
Trial report in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Individually modifiable risk factors to ameliorate cognitive aging: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society · 2015Pooled it
- Dehydroepiandrosterone for women in the peri- or postmenopausal phase.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Clinical review: The benefits and harms of systemic dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in postmenopausal women with normal adrenal function: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2014Pooled it
- Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation for cognitive function in healthy elderly people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2006Pooled it
- Are levels of DHEAS indicative of subjective health - results of the population-based longitudinal CARLA study.npj aging · 2026Article
- Observational
- Sex and gender correlates of sexually polymorphic cognition.Biology of sex differences · 2024Article
- Associations between low sex hormone concentrations and depression in older women: An observational study.Maturitas · 2023Observational
- DTC genetic test for customized cosmetics in COVID-19 pandemic: Focused on women in their 40s and 60s in Seoul, Republic of Korea.Journal of cosmetic dermatology · 2021Article
- Testosterone and Dehydroepiandrosterone Treatment in Ageing Men: Are We All Set?The world journal of men's health · 2020Review
- TGFB1-Mediated Gliosis in Multiple Sclerosis Spinal Cords Is Favored by the Regionalized Expression of HOXA5 and the Age-Dependent Decline in Androgen Receptor Ligands.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Article
- Impact of adrenal hormones, reproductive aging, and major depression on memory circuitry decline in early midlife.Brain research · 2019Article
- Digital Delivery of Meditative Movement Training Improved Health of Cigarette-Smoke-Exposed Subjects.Frontiers in public health · 2018Article
- Gender differences in the relationships among neurosteroid serum levels, cognitive function, and quality of life.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2018Article
- Endocrine and Metabolic Pathways Linked to Keratoconus: Implications for the Role of Hormones in the Stromal Microenvironment.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Dehydroepiandrosterone, Its Sulfate and Cognitive Functions.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2016Article
- Genetics of androgen metabolism in women with infertility and hypoandrogenism.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2015Review
- Testosterone increases circulating dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels in the male rhesus macaque.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2014Article
- Causes and consequences of age-related steroid hormone changes: insights gained from nonhuman primates.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2013Review
- A review of age-related dehydroepiandrosterone decline and its association with well-known geriatric syndromes: is treatment beneficial?Rejuvenation research · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo examine the effects of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation on cognitive function and quality of life in healthy older adults.
designDouble-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial.
settingClinical research facility.
participantsOne hundred ten men and 115 women aged 55 to 85 (mean +/- standard deviation 68 +/- 8).
interventionFifty milligrams daily oral DHEA versus placebo for 1 year. MEASUREMENTS: Six cognitive function tests at baseline and 12 months, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36), the Life Satisfaction Index-Z, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Female Sexual Function Index (in women), and the 15-item International Index of Erectile Function (in men) at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months.
resultsThere were no differences between the DHEA and placebo groups in change over time in cognitive function (P>.10). Over time, BDI scores decreased for men (P=.006) and women (P=.02), and Satisfaction with Life Scale scores increased for women (P=.004), but there were no differences between the DHEA and placebo groups over time on these measures or the SF-36, Life Satisfaction Index-Z scale, or sexual function scales (P>.10).
conclusionDHEA supplementation has no benefit on cognitive performance or well-being in healthy older adults, and it should not be recommended for that purpose in the general population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.