A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Evening Primrose Oil for Mastalgia Treatment

Lina Liana Ahmad Adni,Ritzzaleena Rosli Mohd Rosli,Juliawati Muhammad,Mohd Noor Norhayati

doi:10.3390/ijerph18126295

Lina Liana Ahmad Adni, Ritzzaleena Rosli Mohd Rosli + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126295

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Abstract

Mastalgia, or breast pain, is common among women which can lead to significant impairment in daily living. Hence, finding an effective treatment that can alleviate the symptom is very important. Thus, we carry out this study to determine the efficacy of evening primrose oil (EPO) for mastalgia treatment in women. The review included published randomised clinical trials that evaluated EPO used for treating mastalgia against a placebo or other treatments, irrespective of the blinding procedure, publication status, or sample size. Two independent authors screened the titles and abstracts of the identified trials; full texts of relevant trials were evaluated for eligibility. Two reviewers independently extracted data on the methods, interventions, outcomes, and risk of bias. The random-effects model was used for estimating the risk ratios and mean differences with 95% confidence intervals. Thirteen trials with 1752 randomised patients were included. The results showed that EPO has no difference to reduce breast pain compared to topical NSAIDS, danazol, or vitamin E. The number of patients who achieved pain relief was no different compared to the placebo or other treatments. The EPO does not increase adverse events, such as nausea, abdominal bloating, headache or giddiness, increase weight gain, and altered taste compared to a placebo or other treatments. EPO is a safe medication with similar efficacy for pain control in women with mastalgia compared to a placebo, topical NSAIDS, danazol, or vitamin E.

Highlights

Breast pain is a common cause of anxiety amongst women and frequently leads to primary care clinic consultation [1]
evening primrose oil (EPO) is a safe medication as it was not associated with the occurrence of adverse events, which were nausea, abdominal bloating, headache or giddiness, weight gain, and altered taste
This study shows that EPO has no difference in the reduction in the severity of pain in women with mastalgia compared to placebo, topical NSAIDS, danazol, or vitamin E

Summary

Introduction

Breast pain is a common cause of anxiety amongst women and frequently leads to primary care clinic consultation [1]. It is the most common symptom amongst patients visiting the breast clinic [2]. The pain has been more commonly reported amongst older women, those with larger breast sizes, and those less fit. Besides that, of those reported symptoms, 48 and 37% reported a negative impact from breast pain on their sexual activity and physical function, respectively. Ten percent of those symptomatic had reported breast pain that interfered with their social functioning [5]

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