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The Effect of Salvia Officinalis on Hot Flashes in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

  • 2023-07-01
  • International journal of community based nursing and midwifery 11(3)
    • Maryam Moradi
    • Vahid Ghavami
    • Azin Niazi
    • Fatemeh Seraj Shirvan
    • Saye Rasa

Study Design

Type
Meta-Analysis
Sample size
n = 148
Population
postmenopausal women with hot flashes
Methods
systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials; databases searched: Pubmed, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Scopus, SID, Magiran; Cochrane's Risk of bias tools used for quality assessment

Background

The experience of hot flashes during menopause has a negative effect on quality of life and can cause disturbance in the workplace and disrupt daily activities. Phytoestrogens in Salvia officinalis reduce menopause symptoms due to their anti-dopaminergic effects. This study was conducted to systematically review and summarize the results of clinical trials on the effect of Salvia officinalis on hot flashes in postmenopausal women.

Methods

In this systematic review, databases including Pubmed, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Scopus, SID, and Magiran were searched using keywords such as menopause, hot flashes, Salvia officinalis, and herbal medicines; all possible combinations of these words were used with the Boolean operators of "OR" and "AND". To evaluate the quality of articles, we used Cochrane's Risk of bias tools.

Results

After eliminating the duplicates, a total of 148 articles were found. Following the exclusion of irrelevant articles, 4 studies with number of 310 people were examined. Among them, 3 out of 4 studies examined the effect of Salvia officinalis on the frequency of hot flashes, 3 out of 4 studies examined the severity of hot flashes, and only 1 out of 4 studies examined the effect of Salvia officinalis on the duration of hot flashes. All 4 reviewed studies indicated that the use of Salvia officinalis reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes in postmenopausal women. Meta-analysis results showed that the effect of Salvia Officinalis on the frequency [ES=-1.12 (%95 CI:-2.37; 0.14), I2=71%] of hot flashes in postmenopausal women was significant compared to placebo, but severity [ES=-2.05 (%95 CI:-6.53; 2.43), I2=70%] was not significant.

Conclusion

Salvia officinalis can be used to reduce the frequency of menopausal hot flashes. Expansive use of this plant can be suggested in case it is confirmed in further investigations.

Research Insights

  • Sage→Reduced Hot Flash Frequency

    Meta-analysis results showed that the effect of Salvia Officinalis on the frequency [ES=-1.12 (%95 CI:-2.37; 0.14), I²=71%] of hot flashes in postmenopausal women was significant compared to placebo

    Effect
    Beneficial
    Effect size
    Moderate
  • Sage→Reduced Hot Flash Severity

    severity [ES=-2.05 (%95 CI:-6.53; 2.43), I²=70%] was not significant

    Effect
    Neutral
    Effect size
    Small
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