Fig 1.
In total 122 women were screened, 62 women met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study. One participant dropped out due to personal reasons, two participants were excluded; one post medical examination due to undisclosed information regarding her physiological status and one submitted inadequate SC data due to lack of compliance during SC testing.
Fig 2.
A and B: The model, program and SC monitor used for determination of hot flush events.
(A) The Q sensor from Affectiva™ (Waltham, MA, USA) used for ambulatory monitoring and capture of participant electrodermal activity. It is applied to the wrist (in a similar fashion to a watch) allowing integrated dual electrodes contact with the ventral side of the arm. Electrodes detect changes in SC, facilitating the determination of changes in the sweat secretion of participants in micro Siemans (μS). (B) Example of an archetypal hot flush shape detected using SC with a “sharp rise and swishy tail” according to Carpenter et al (1999).
Fig 3.
Typical skin conductance data sets.
Examples of 24 hour skin conductance data sets, showing baseline (top) and post 12 week red clover treatment (bottom) data from a symptomatic menopausal participant.
Table 1.
Baseline characteristics.
Fig 4.
A and B: Change in SC determined 24hr HFF and HFI.
(A) The mean (95% CI) change from baseline to 3 months in HFI (μS s-1) between the placebo and treatment groups. (B) The mean (95% CI) change from baseline to 3 months in 24hr HFF (total number of peaks) in the placebo and treatment groups. In all figures the Placebo group are marked as blue and RCE as red and significance is denoted as:* P<0.05, ** P<0.01.
Fig 5.
A and B: Self-reported rHFF and rHFS diaries.
(A) The mean (95% CI) change from baseline to 3 months in rHFF in the placebo and RCE groups. (B) The mean (95% CI) change from baseline to 3months in 24hr rHFS in the placebo and treatment groups. In all figures the Placebo group are marked as blue and RCE as red and significance is denoted as:* P<0.05, ** P<0.01.
Table 2.
Self-reported Greene Climacteric Scale.
Table 3.
Plasma lipid profile.