Mood scores improved after menopause hormone therapy changes in a clinic cohort
Women attending a specialist UK menopause clinic reported fewer mood symptoms after starting or adjusting hormone therapy. The observational study cannot establish that treatment caused the improvement.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Women in this specialist clinic had lower mood-symptom questionnaire scores after starting or adjusting menopausal hormone therapy. The study followed changes within a clinical cohort rather than randomly assigning treatments. Comparisons between initiation strategies and between adjustment strategies did not show statistically significant differences, so the results do not establish a preferred regimen or a causal treatment effect.
This retrospective study came from a specialist clinic and reported no untreated comparison group. The authors call for prospective and randomized research with longer follow-up and different patient populations.
What researchers found
Mean Meno-D score change
Versus pretreatment, mean scores decreased by 44.59% (95% confidence interval −46.83% to −42.34%) after an average 107 days. This describes scores, not the proportion who recovered.
What the percentage describes
Meno-D is a questionnaire measuring mood-related symptoms. The reported percentage concerns the change in average questionnaire scores. It does not mean that the same proportion of participants recovered from depression or anxiety, or experienced identical improvement.
Strategies remained uncertain
The study compared approaches involving oestradiol, progestogens and testosterone. Differences between the initiation strategies and between the adjustment strategies were not statistically significant. This does not prove those approaches are equivalent or establish that adding testosterone provides greater benefit.
The original publication
Transdermal oestradiol and testosterone therapy for menopausal depression and mood symptoms: retrospective cohort study.
Glynne S, Kamal A, McColl L et al.
Br J Psychiatry · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 40519046
- Record checked
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