Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2008
Health related quality of life after combined hormone replacement therapy: randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 5 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
58 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 199 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of hormone therapy and phytoestrogens on the psychological symptoms of menopausal women: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and trial sequential analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Long-term hormone therapy for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- EFFICACY OF ESTRADIOL IN PERIMENOPAUSAL DEPRESSION: SO MUCH PROMISE AND SO FEW ANSWERS.Depression and anxiety · 2015Pooled it
- Hormone therapy for preventing cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Hormone replacement therapy for women with type 1 diabetes mellitus.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Sleep quality and cortical amyloid-β deposition in postmenopausal women of the Kronos early estrogen prevention study.Neuroreport · 2021Trial
- Breast effects of oral, combined 17β-estradiol, and progesterone capsules in menopausal women: a randomized controlled trial.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2020Trial
- Treatment with hormone therapy and calcitriol did not affect depression in older postmenopausal women: no interaction with estrogen and vitamin D receptor genotype polymorphisms.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2012Trial
- Breast tenderness and breast cancer risk in the estrogen plus progestin and estrogen-alone women's health initiative clinical trials.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2012Trial
- Sleep problems after short-term hormone therapy suspension: secondary analysis of a randomized trial.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2011Trial
- Association Between Hormone Therapy and Health-Related Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Korean Women: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study Using 2005-2009 KNHANES Data.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Sleep Disturbances during Menopause: Mechanisms and Management Approaches.Journal of menopausal medicine · 2026Review
- Menopause and mental health: clinical evidence and public discourse.Przeglad menopauzalny = Menopause review · 2026Review
- Joint pain and menopause.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of neuropsychiatric disease: a drug target Mendelian randomisation study.npj women's health · 2026Article
- Use of menopausal hormone therapy before and after diagnosis and ovarian cancer survival-A prospective cohort study in Australia.International journal of cancer · 2025Article
- Insomnia in Postmenopausal Women: How to Approach and Treat It?Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- A cross-sectional study of symptoms and health-related quality of life in menopausal-aged women in China.BMC women's health · 2023Article
- Hormone therapy for sexual function in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Perceived quality of sleep across the menopausal transition: A retrospective cohort study.Health science reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the effect of combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on health related quality of life.
designRandomised placebo controlled double blind trial.
settingGeneral practices in United Kingdom (384), Australia (94), and New Zealand (24).
participantsPostmenopausal women aged 50-69 at randomisation; 3721 women with a uterus were randomised to combined oestrogen and progestogen (n=1862) or placebo (n=1859). Data on health related quality of life at one year were available from 1043 and 1087 women, respectively.
interventionsConjugated equine oestrogen 0.625 mg plus medroxyprogesterone acetate 2.5/5.0 mg or matched placebo orally daily for one year.
main outcome measuresHealth related quality of life and psychological wellbeing as measured by the women's health questionnaire. Changes in emotional and physical menopausal symptoms as measured by a symptoms questionnaire and depression by the Centre for Epidemiological Studies depression scale (CES-D). Overall health related quality of life and overall quality of life as measured by the European quality of life instrument (EuroQol) and visual analogue scale, respectively.
resultsAfter one year small but significant improvements were observed in three of nine components of the women's health questionnaire for those taking combined HRT compared with those taking placebo: vasomotor symptoms (P<0.001), sexual functioning (P<0.001), and sleep problems (P<0.001). Significantly fewer women in the combined HRT group reported hot flushes (P<0.001), night sweats (P<0.001), aching joints and muscles (P=0.001), insomnia (P<0.001), and vaginal dryness (P<0.001) than in the placebo group, but greater proportions reported breast tenderness (P<0.001) or vaginal discharge (P<0.001). Hot flushes were experienced in the combined HRT and placebo groups by 30% and 29% at trial entry and 9% and 25% at one year, respectively. No significant differences in other menopausal symptoms, depression, or overall quality of life were observed at one year.
conclusionsCombined HRT started many years after the menopause can improve health related quality of life.
trial registrationISRCTN 63718836.
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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.