A prospective audit of pragmatic herbal treatment of women experiencing menopausal symptoms using measure yourself medical outcome profile (MYMOP2) questionnaires

Abstract

Most women will experience problematic symptoms at menopause, often beginning a few years before the cessation of menstruation, and potentially lasting some years beyond. Medical herbalists such as members of the U.K. National Institute of Medical Herbalists have found that menopausal symptoms are a frequent reason for women to consult an herbal practitioner. A previous study provided data on improvement of symptoms for women receiving individualized treatment from a medical herbalist. It has been difficult to provide more data and evidence of the effectiveness of practitioner-led herbal intervention at menopause due to the complex nature of the treatment protocol.The validated, patient recorded, outcome measure MYMOP2 was used, over an 18-month period, to test how women themselves report the outcome of the herbal medicine treatment offered in one herbal medicine clinic.This paper analyses the data from the 30 MYMOP2 questionnaires that were completed both at initial consultation and after receiving a course of herbal medicine treatment. The paper also presents an illustrative case comparison of two of the women, their symptoms, and the herbal medicine treatment they received.A statistically significant improvement in average symptom scores (P < 0.001) and wellbeing measures (P < 0.001) after herbal treatments was demonstrated. No adverse events were reported from any of the respondents.MYMOP2 would appear to be a useful way of providing insight into patient perceptions of herbal interventions, particularly where functional conditions present an extra layer of complexity.