Mindfulness training can help women cope with hot flashes

January 01, 0001

Mindfulness training can help women cope with hot flashes

The aim of this study by US authors was to analyze the effect of participation in a mindfulness training program (mindfulness-based stress reduction, {MBSR}) on the degree of bother from hot flashes and night sweats. They conducted a randomized trial of 110 late perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women experiencing an average of 5 or more moderate or severe hot flashes (including night sweats)/day. A wait-list control (WLC) was used with 3-month postintervention follow-up. The main outcome was the degree of bother from hot flashes and night sweats in the previous 24 hours. Secondary measures were hot flash intensity, quality of life, insomnia, anxiety, and perceived stress.

They found: "Baseline average hot flash frequency was 7.87 and 2.81 night sweats/day. Mean bothersomeness score was 3.18 (moderately bothered/extremely bothered). All analyses were intention to treat and were controlled for baseline values. Within-woman changes in bother from hot flashes differed significantly by treatment arm. At completion of the intervention, bother in the MBSR arm decreased on average by 14.77% versus 6.79% for WLC. At 20 weeks, total reduction in bother for MBSR was 21.62% and 10.50% for WLC. Baseline-adjusted changes in hot flash intensity did not differ between treatment arms. The MBSR arm made clinically significant improvements in quality of life, subjective sleep quality, anxiety, and perceived stress. Improvements were maintained 3 months postintervention."

The authors concluded: "Our data suggest that MBSR may be a clinically significant resource in reducing the degree of bother and distress women experience from hot flashes and night sweats."

This approach is low risk and has other health benefits.

For the full abstract, click here.

Menopause 18(6):611-620, June 2011 © 2011 to the North American Menopause Society
Mindfulness training for coping with hot flashes: results of a randomized trial. James Francis Carmody, Sybil Crawford, Elena Salmoirago-Blotcher, Katherine Leung, Linda Churchill, Nicholas Olendzki. Correspondence to Dr. Carmody: [email protected]

Category: X. Female Genital System, Breast. Keywords: menopause, hot flashes, night sweats, mindfulness-based stress reduction, randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 8 July 2011

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