Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26447063›Full record

Observational studyMultiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)2016

Exploration of changes in disability after menopause in a longitudinal multiple sclerosis cohort.

Riley Bove, Brian C Healy, Alexander Musallam, Bonnie I Glanz, Philip L De Jager, Tanuja Chitnis

Registry-linked trialAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02710214 (Effect of a Tissue Selective Estrogen Complex on Menopausal Symptoms in Women With MS), which is not on this map. Cited by 50 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
50citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT02710214 phase2completednot on this map

Effect of a Tissue Selective Estrogen Complex on Menopausal Symptoms in Women With MS: A Pilot Trial.

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of California, San FranciscoRan2016 to 2019Enrolled24ConditionsMenopause, Multiple SclerosisArmsTissue Selective Estrogen Complex, Placebo
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

50 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. The Neurology of Menopause.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Sex and gender-related differences in neurological diseases: current challenges and recommendations for clinical practice.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Observational
  11. Observational
  12. The influence of menopause on multiple sclerosis.European journal of neurology · 2025
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Hormonal Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis: a Review of Clinical Data.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2024
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Smoking, early menopause and multiple sclerosis disease course.Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society · 2023
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Riley BovePartners Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brookline, MA, USA/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA/Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Brian C HealyPartners Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brookline, MA, USA/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA/Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA/Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Alexander MusallamPartners Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brookline, MA, USA.
Bonnie I GlanzPartners Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brookline, MA, USA/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Philip L De JagerPartners Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brookline, MA, USA/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA/Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Tanuja ChitnisPartners Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brookline, MA, USA/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA/Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA tchitnis@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.
Brigham and Women's Hospital · US

Funding

Hormones/Genes in Women's Health: From Bench to BedsideK12HD051959 · NICHD · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI GOLDSTEIN, JILL M, REXRODE, KATHRYN M · 2005 to 2023
$8.8M
NICHD NIH HHS K12 HD051959
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOnset of multiple sclerosis (MS) is typically in early adulthood. The impact, if any, of menopause on the MS course is unknown. Our objective was to determine whether menopause is associated with changes in MS severity in a longitudinal clinical cohort.

methodsResponses from an ongoing reproductive questionnaire deployed in all active female CLIMB observational study participants with a diagnosis of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or MS were analyzed when the response rate was 60%. Reproductive data were linked with clinical severity measures that were prospectively collected every six months, including our primary measure, the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

resultsOver one-half of the respondents (368 of 724 women) were postmenopausal. Median age at natural menopause was 51.5 years. In our primary analysis of 124 women who were followed longitudinally (mean duration 10.4 years) through their menopausal transition (natural or surgical), menopause represented an inflection point in their EDSS changes (difference of 0.076 units; 95% CI 0.010-0.14; p = 0.024). These findings were not explained by vitamin D levels, nor changes in treatment or smoking status over this period. There was no effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) exposure, but HRT use was low.

conclusionsWe observed a possible worsening of MS disability after menopause. Larger cohorts are required to assess any HRT effects.

Indexed as

Disability EvaluationPostmenopauseAdultDemyelinating DiseasesDisease ProgressionFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMiddle AgedMultiple SclerosisPredictive Value of TestsPrognosisRetrospective StudiesSeverity of Illness IndexSurveys and QuestionnairesTime FactorsClinically isolated syndromedisabilitydisease progressionestrogenhormone replacement therapymenopausemultiple sclerosisoophorectomypatient reported outcomequality of life

Identifiers

PMID26447063
PMCPMC4824677
OpenAlexW2354820300

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

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.