Effects of Herbal Products on Menorrhagia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Context: Menorrhagia is an important healthcare challenge. Complementary and alternative medicine therapies are strategies with potential positive effects on menorrhagia. Objectives: The aim of this study was to systematically assess the effects of herbal products on menorrhagia. Methods: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Barekat Gostar, Scientific Information Database (SID), Magiran, and IranDoc international and Iranian databases, in addition to the Google Scholar search engine, were searched without any time or language limitation (updated until 02.07.2022). Eligible studies were combined through the random-effects model based on their sample sizes, mean scores, and standard deviations. Data analysis was performed at a significance level of less than 0.05 using STATA software (version 14.0). Results: Nineteen trials on 1715 women (856 and 859 subjects in the control and intervention groups, respectively) were reviewed. After the intervention, menstrual bleeding severity in the first, second, and third cycles (P < 0.001) and the number of menstrual days in the first (P < 0.001), second (P < 0.001), and third (P = 0.487) menstrual cycles significantly decreased in the herbal products group. There were no significant between-group differences regarding the bleeding severity at the pretest (P < 0.001) and in the third cycle (P < 0.001) and the number of menstrual days at the pretest (P = 0.131) and in the second (P < 0.001) and third cycles (P = 0.014). However, the bleeding severity in the intervention group was significantly less than the control group in the first (P < 0.001) and second cycles (P < 0.001), and the number of menstrual days in the intervention group was significantly less than the control group in the first cycle (P = 0.004). Conclusions: Herbal products are effective in significantly reducing bleeding severity and the number of menstrual days among women with menorrhagia, and their effects reduce over time.