Trial reportMenopause (New York, N.Y.)2013
Estrogen alone and joint symptoms in the Women's Health Initiative randomized trial.
Trial report in Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-term hormone therapy for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Exploring the Shared Genetic Basis of Age at Menopause and Osteoarthritis.ACR open rheumatology · 2026Article
- Hormonal Imbalance in Obesity and Arthritis: Points of Contact.Current rheumatology reviews · 2025Review
- Predictive Validity of Multifactorial Injury Risk Models and Associated Clinical Measures in the U.S. Population.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Efficacy of combination therapy with unkeito and boiogito for menopausal arthralgia: A retrospective observational study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2024Article
- Osteocytes contribute to sex-specific differences in osteoarthritic pain.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Could sex-specific subtypes of hand osteoarthritis exist? A retrospective study in women presenting to secondary care.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Sex Difference in OA: Should We Blame Estrogen?European journal of rheumatology · 2023Article
- Hormone replacement therapy (conjugated oestrogens plus bazedoxifene) for post-menopausal women with symptomatic hand osteoarthritis: primary report from the HOPE-e randomised, placebo-controlled, feasibility study.The Lancet. Rheumatology · 2022Article
- Roles of Hormone Replacement Therapy and Menopause on Osteoarthritis and Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes: A Narrative Review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2022Review
- Aromatase Inhibitor-Associated Musculoskeletal Syndrome: Understanding Mechanisms and Management.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Review
- Article
- Potential Effect Modifiers of the Association Between Physical Activity Patterns and Joint Symptoms in Middle-Aged Women.Arthritis care & research · 2018Article
- Chronic joint pain and handgrip strength correlates with osteoporosis in mid-life women: a Singaporean cohort.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2017Article
- Article
- Pain Severity in Relation to the Final Menstrual Period in a Prospective Multiethnic Observational Cohort: Results From the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.The journal of pain · 2017Article
- Menopause as a potential cause for higher prevalence of low back pain in women than in age-matched men.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2017Article
- Postmenopausal Symptoms in Female Veterans with Type 2 Diabetes: Glucose Control and Symptom Severity.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2015Article
- Confronting the challenges of the menopausal transition.Women's midlife health · 2015Review
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 9 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveAlthough joint symptoms are commonly reported after menopause, observational studies examining exogenous estrogen's influence on joint symptoms provide mixed results. Against this background, estrogen-alone effects on joint symptoms were examined in post hoc analyses in the Women's Health Initiative randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.
methodsA total of 10,739 postmenopausal women who have had a hysterectomy were randomized to receive daily oral conjugated equine estrogens (0.625 mg/d) or a matching placebo. The frequency and severity of joint pain and joint swelling were assessed by questionnaire in all participants at entry and on year 1, and in a 9.9% random subsample (n = 1,062) after years 3 and 6. Logistic regression models were used to compare the frequency and severity of symptoms by randomization group. Sensitivity analyses evaluated adherence influence on symptoms.
resultsAt baseline, joint pain and joint swelling were closely comparable in the randomization groups (about 77% with joint pain and 40% with joint swelling). After 1 year, joint pain frequency was significantly lower in the estrogen-alone group compared with the placebo group (76.3% vs 79.2%, P = 0.001), as was joint pain severity, and the difference in pain between randomization groups persisted through year 3. However, joint swelling frequency was higher in the estrogen-alone group (42.1% vs 39.7%, P = 0.02). Adherence-adjusted analyses strengthen estrogen's association with reduced joint pain but attenuate estrogen's association with increased joint swelling.
conclusionsThe current findings suggest that estrogen-alone use in postmenopausal women results in a modest but sustained reduction in the frequency of joint pain.
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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.