SynthesisAustralasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists2023
Does menopause elevate the risk for developing depression and anxiety? Results from a systematic review.
Synthesis in Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 10 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.
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Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 139 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Telehealth Care Interventions for Women's Mental Health During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Vasomotor Symptoms and Their Association with Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Peri- and Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of Tibolone treatment on depression, anxiety and mood in women: a meta-analysis and systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Archives of women's mental health · 2025Pooled it
- Depression and cardiovascular disease: mind the gap in the guidelines.European heart journal · 2025Pooled it
- A meta-analysis on the incidence rate of depression in Chinese menopausal women.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of physical activity on depressive and anxiety symptoms of women in the menopausal transition and menopause: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- A network meta-analysis of acupuncture therapy for female insomnia and negative emotions from the perspective of the perimenopausal window.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of melatonin intake on depression and anxiety in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Archives of women's mental health · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Menopause and suicide: A systematic review.Women's health (London, England)Pooled it
- Effect of breathing exercises on depression, sexual function, and exercise capacity in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- The effect of emotional freedom technique on depressive and menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women: randomized controlled trial.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2026Trial
- Effects of a dual intervention (motor and virtual reality-based cognitive) on cognition in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a single-blind, randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Trial
- The Arabic Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2 (GAD-2): Psychometric evaluation among mothers of children with intellectual disabilities.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- The Menopause Transition and Epilepsy: A Focus on Therapeutics.Neurology. Clinical practice · 2026Review
- Mental Health Conditions and Incident Cancer: A Prospective Cohort Study of 402,255 UK Biobank Participants.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Development and Initial Psychometric Validation of the Multidimensional Menopausal Burden Questionnaire (MMBQ-44) in a Sample of Romanian Women.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Depression and increased cancer risk: a 10-year population-based cohort study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Menopausal Suicidality and Fragmented Care: A Qualitative Study of Carer and Clinician Perspectives.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Perceived stress as a mediator between negative life events and psychosocial quality of life during the menopausal transition: A path analysis.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether menopause elevates the risk for developing diagnostic depression and anxiety. Menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms such as insomnia and hot flushes are well recognized, but no systematic review of the psychological consequences of menopause has been undertaken. Menopause can be a time of social change for women, confounding any correlation.
methodsUsing PRISMA methodology, we conducted a systematic review of all published (in English) original data examining a relationship between menopause and depression and anxiety. We ranked the quality of all included studies using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria.
resultsTwenty-two selected studies were summarized and compared, being eight cross-sectional surveys; one retrospective cohort, and 13 prospective cohort studies. Depression and anxiety are common during menopause and the post-menopause, with vasomotor symptoms and a prior history of major depression elevating risk of menopausal associated depression. Psychosocial factors also may increase risk of depression during menopause.
conclusionsMenopause increases vulnerability to depression and anxiety, perhaps via estrogen fluctuations affecting serotonin and GABA. Underlying neuroticism and contemporaneous adverse life events are also risk factors for menopausal decompensation with depression.
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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.