SynthesisThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2014
Clinical review: The benefits and harms of systemic dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in postmenopausal women with normal adrenal function: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- Society for Endocrinology Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation of Androgen Excess in Women.Clinical endocrinology · 2025Guideline
- International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health Clinical Practice Guideline for the Use of Systemic Testosterone for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2021Guideline
- Hormonal profile of menopausal women receiving androgen replacement therapy: a meta-analysis.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2020Pooled it
- Global Consensus Position Statement on the Use of Testosterone Therapy for Women.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2019Guideline
- Phase II Study of Dehydroepiandrosterone in Androgen Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer.The oncologist · 2019Trial
- Effects of short-term DHEA intake on hormonal responses in young recreationally trained athletes: modulation by gender.Endocrine · 2018Trial
- Changes in Visceral Adiposity, Subcutaneous Adiposity, and Sex Hormones in the Diabetes Prevention Program.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2017Trial
- Imbalances in adrenal hormones and their effects on bone metabolism.Endocrine journal · 2025Review
- The Sex Hormone Precursors Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and Its Sulfate Ester Form (DHEAS): Molecular Mechanisms and Actions on Human Body.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Role of Cortisol and Dehydroepiandrosterone in Obesity, Pain, and Aging.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Changes in Muscle Mass and Bone Density and Their Relationship After Total Knee Arthroplasty.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Assessing treatment adherence is crucial to determine adequacy of mineralocorticoid therapy.Endocrine connections · 2023Article
- Review
- Low serum dehydroepiandrosterone is associated with diabetic dyslipidemia risk in males with type 2 diabetes.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Current use of testosterone therapy in LGBTQ populations.International journal of impotence research · 2022Review
- Should Dehydroepiandrosterone Be Administered to Women?The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2022Review
- The Utilization of Dehydroepiandrosterone as a Sexual Hormone Precursor in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women: An Overview.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Management of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in transgender women: a guide for clinicians.International journal of impotence research · 2020Review
- The 2020 Menopausal Hormone Therapy Guidelines.Journal of menopausal medicine · 2020Review
- Dehydroepiandrosterone on metabolism and the cardiovascular system in the postmenopausal period.Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany) · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextExogenous dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) therapy has been proposed to replenish the depletion of endogenous DHEA and its sulfate form, which occurs with advancing age and is thought to be associated with loss of libido and menopausal symptoms.
objectiveWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the evidence supporting the use of systemic DHEA in postmenopausal women with normal adrenal function.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus through January 2014. Pairs of reviewers, working independently, selected studies and extracted data from eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We used the random-effects model to pool across studies and evaluated heterogeneity using the I(2) statistic.
resultsWe included 23 RCTs with moderate to high risk of bias enrolling 1188 women. DHEA use was not associated with significant improvement in libido or sexual function (standardized mean difference, 0.35; 95% confidence interval, -0.02 to 0.73; P value = .06; I(2) = 62%). There was also no significant effect of DHEA on serious adverse effects, serum lipids, serum glucose, weight, body mass index, or bone mineral density. This evidence warranted low confidence in the results, mostly due to imprecision, risk of bias, and inconsistency across RCTs.
conclusionsEvidence warranting low confidence suggests that DHEA administration does not significantly impact sexual symptoms or selected metabolic markers in postmenopausal women with normal adrenal function.
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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.