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Relative effects of tamoxifen, raloxifene, and conjugated equine estrogens on cognition

Espeland MA, Shumaker SA, Limacher M, Rapp SR, Bevers TB, Barad DH, Coker LH, Gaussoin SA et al.

Journal of women's health (2002), 2010

6,211 participants · 19 citations

Abstract

Objective: To compare the relative effects of conjugated equine estrogens (CEE), raloxifene, and tamoxifen therapies on cognition among women aged > or =65 years.

Methods: Annual Modified Mini-Mental State (3MS) examinations were used to assess global cognitive function in the two randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials of CEE therapies of the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) and the Cognition in the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (CoSTAR). Analyses were limited to women who had 3MS testing at baseline and the first 3 years of follow-up and, because of potential ethnic-related differences between studies, to Caucasian women (WHIMS n = 6211, CoSTAR n = 250). Covariate adjustment was used to compare the postrandomization mean 3MS scores among the three active therapies with placebo therapy while controlling for differences between groups with respect to dementia risk factors.

Results: At baseline, the average (SD) 3MS scores by group were 95.24 (4.28) for placebo, 95.19 (4.33) for CEE, 94.60 (4.76) for raloxifene, and 95.02 (4.03) for tamoxifen. Compared with placebo, each active therapy was associated with a small mean relative deficit in 3MS scores of < or =0.5 units, which was fairly consistent between women with and without prior hysterectomy. Relative deficits were slightly greater for tamoxifen (p = 0.001) and less marked for raloxifene (p = 0.06) and CEE (p = 0.02) therapies. Relative deficits appeared to be greater among women with lower baseline…

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Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 6,211 participants or records.

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