Pilot Study to Evaluate the Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Menopause Rating Scale Scores among Perimenopausal Women

Introduction: PostWomen’s Health Initiative trial, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has fallen into disrepute. Other alternative therapies are being explored for the management of menopausal symptoms. We conducted a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of vitamin E in the management of menopausal symptoms among perimenopausal women. Material and Methods: A prospective randomized placebocontrolled single-blinded study was conducted. Thirty perimenopausal women aged between 35-50 years, who declined hormone replacement therapy for menopausal complaints were enrolled for the study. The selected patients were randomly distributed into two groups A and B. Group A (n=15) was given 800 IU of vitamin E per day in two divided doses for a period of three months while group B (n=15) was given placebo (soft gel capsules) orally once daily for three months. The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) was used to evaluate the response to treatment. Paired t-test and independent t-test were applied for statistical analysis. Results: Among the vitamin E administered group, the somatic and psychological scores improved by 22.44% (p<0.05) and 14.63% (p<0.01) respectively. Somatic and psychological scores also improved significantly among those on placebo treatment. The urogenital subscale scores did not improve among both the groups. Though the total scores improved by 18.34% (p<0.05) among vitamin E group, it was not significantly different from the 13.64% (p<0.05) total score improvement seen in the placebo group. Conclusion: Vitamin E was not superior to placebo treatment for management of menopausal symptoms.