Self-Administered Hypnosis vs Sham Hypnosis for Hot Flashes: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Area of Science:

• Menopause Research
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Menopausal hot flashes cause significant adverse effects for many women.
• Clinical hypnosis is a proven, safe, nonhormonal treatment for hot flashes.
• There is a need to improve the accessibility of hypnosis interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a self-administered hypnosis intervention for hot flashes.
• To compare hypnosis to a sham white noise control for hot flash interference and perceived benefit.
• To examine the relationship between adherence and treatment effect.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter, single-blind, randomized clinical trial involving 250 postmenopausal women.
• Participants were randomized to a 6-week self-administered hypnosis or sham white noise condition.
• Outcomes included changes in hot flash scores, daily interference (HFRDIS), and perceived benefit.

Main Results:

• The hypnosis group showed significantly greater reductions in hot flash scores (53.4% decrease) compared to the control group (40.9% decrease).
• Hypnosis also led to greater reductions in daily interference (49.3% vs. 37.4%) and higher perceived benefits (90.3% vs. 64.3%).
• These improvements were observed at 6 weeks post-intervention.

Conclusions:

• Self-administered clinical hypnosis is a clinically significant and effective method for reducing hot flashes in postmenopausal women.
• The findings support hypnosis delivered via audio files as an accessible, nonhormonal treatment option.
• Further research can explore long-term effects and broader implementation.