Chinese herbal medicine improves depressive symptoms and regulates hormonal levels in the treatment of menopausal depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in the treatment of menopausal depression. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, Chongqing VIP, and SinoMed were searched. All RCTs were assessed for eligibility and data extraction, subsequently assessed on the quality with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Meta-analysis was performed on RevMan Web on all included studies for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI), serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH), oestradiol (E2), and adverse events. The review included 27 RCTs with 2540 participants. The quality of studies included was generally poor. Nevertheless, single use of CHM or in combination with conventional medicine significantly improved HAMD and KMI scores ( p