Complementary/alternative therapies for premenstrual syndrome: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Complementary/alternative therapies are popular with women who have premens trual syndrome. This systematic review was designed to determine whether us e of such therapies Is supported by evidence of effectiveness from rigorous clinical trials, Trials were located through searching 7 databases and che cking the reference lists of articles. Randomized controlled trials investi gating a complementary/alternative therapy in women with premenstrual syndr ome published in the peer-reviewed literature were included in the review. Twenty-seven trials were included investigating herbal medicine (7 trials), homeopathy (1), dietary supplements (13), relaxation (1), massage (1), ref lexology (1) chiropractic (1), and biofeedback (2). Despite some positive f indings, the evidence was not compelling for any of these therapies, with m ost trials suffering from various methodological limitations. On the basis of current evidence, no complementary/alternative therapy can be recommende d as a treatment for premenstrual syndrome.