Hormone therapy in menopausal women with cognitive complaints: a randomized, double-blind trial.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of hormone therapy (HT) on cognition and subjective quality of life (QoL) in recently postmenopausal women with cognitive complaints.


METHODS
Cognitive Complaints in Early Menopause Trial (COGENT) was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, pilot study of 180 healthy postmenopausal women aged 45 to 55 years, randomly assigned to receive either placebo or conjugated equine estrogen 0.625 mg/medroxyprogesterone acetate 2.5 mg for 4 months. Outcome measures included memory, subjective cognition, QoL, sexuality, and sleep, which were assessed at baseline and month 4.


RESULTS
The study was terminated before the expected final sample size of 275 due to a decrease in enrollment coinciding with the publication of findings from the Women's Health Initiative. There were no differences between groups on any cognitive or QoL measures, except for an increase in sexual interest and thoughts with HT. Modest negative effects on short- and long-term verbal memory approached significance (p < 0.10). Women with baseline vasomotor symptoms (VMS) showed a decrease in VMS and an improvement in general QoL, but no cognitive benefit vs placebo.


CONCLUSIONS
With the power to detect an effect size of >or=0.45, this study suggests potential modest negative effects on verbal memory that are consistent with previous hormone therapy trials in older women.
Maki
P M
PM
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Gast
M J
MJ
Vieweg
A J
AJ
Burriss
S W
SW
Yaffe
K
K
D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004338:Drug Combinations; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D017258:Medroxyprogesterone Acetate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010919:Placebos; D017211:Treatment Failure
D004338:Drug Combinations; D004967:Estrogens; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010919:Placebos; D017258:Medroxyprogesterone Acetate