title: The Effect of Melatonin on Climacteric Symptoms in Menopausal Women; A Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled, Clinical Trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Menopause is one of the most critical periods of woman's life. With reducing of ovarian estrogen; women are more prone to psychological and physical symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of melatonin on the climacteric symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present double blind, placebo randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 240 menopausal women (40 - 60 years old) referring to the gynecology clinics of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (January - November 2012). The participants were randomly divided into two groups through sortition. Demographic characteristics, Goldberg's general health questionnaire (GHQ), Greene Climacteric Scale and level of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) were determined for both groups before the intervention. The intervention group received one 3mg melatonin tablet each night for 3 months and the control group received the placebo in the same period. Changes of climacteric symptoms and drug complications were measured 1, 2 and 3 months after the intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analyzed the data of 99 postmenopausal women in the intervention group and 101 postmenopausal women in the control group. In the melatonin group, the climacteric symptoms score decreased from 35.73+11.6 to 17.09+10.22 during the 3-month study period and regardless of time, a significant difference was observed between the two groups (P<0.001). In addition, a significant difference was found between the two groups regarding various dimensions of the climacteric symptoms over time (P<0.001). No significant difference was found regarding side effects between the two groups (P= 0.135).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study findings showed that using melatonin improved the climacteric symptoms.
authors.affiliation: 1. Dept. of Midwifery, School of Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Nehleh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Parandavar
authors.affiliation: 1. Dept. of Midwifery, School of Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Khadijeh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abdali
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Physiology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keshtgar
authors.affiliation: 3. Dept. of Pharmacology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Maasoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Emamghoreishi
authors.affiliation: 4. Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Seddegheh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amooee
keywords: Climacteric symptoms; Green scale; Melatonin; Menopausal women; RCT