ArticleMaturitas2026
Menopause and multiple sclerosis: A scoping review of symptoms, disease course, and lived experience.
Article in Maturitas, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Neurology of Menopause.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2026Review
- Menopause and ageing in women with multiple sclerosis.Frontiers in neurologyReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Menopause influences disease activity in women with multiple sclerosis. This scoping review mapped current evidence on menopause in women with multiple sclerosis across symptom, disease, biological, and lived experience domains. This review followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and was preregistered on Open Science Framework (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/H8QBM). PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched for studies between January 1, 2018, and April 29, 2025. Two reviewers independently screened records with third-party adjudication. Eligible studies included women with multiple sclerosis (peri-, menopausal, or postmenopausal) and examined menopause-related outcomes. Data were synthesized descriptively across four domains: symptomatology, disease course, biological mechanisms, and quantitative patient perspectives. Of 7862 records, 19 studies were included, of which 18 were observational (cross-sectional, retrospective, longitudinal) and one a feasibility trial of menopausal hormone therapy. Menopause definitions varied (≥12 months amenorrhea, self-reported, biological, or analytic/time-varying). Most participants had relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with mild to moderate disability. Relapse activity declined after menopause, whereas indices of neurodegeneration and functional decline worsened. Symptoms often intensified and overlapped with aging. No studies captured patient perspectives using qualitative or mixed-method designs and relied solely on patient-reported outcomes. Evidence suggests menopause may accelerate multiple sclerosis progression, with reduced inflammation but greater neurodegeneration and symptom burden. Research is constrained by heterogeneity in accounting for age, inconsistent menopause definitions, and lack of qualitative studies. Clinicians should recognize overlapping menopausal and multiple sclerosis symptoms to inform individualized care. Future priorities include standardized menopause definitions and age-specific analytic frameworks in future mechanistic and qualitative MS research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.