Effect of Valerian on Sleep Disorder in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Menopause-related sleep problems do not necessarily affect the amount of sleep but also the quality of sleep. The most likely mechanism of action of valerian on sleep is its effect on GABA receptors. The aim of this study was to summarize the results of clinical trials on the effect of valerian on sleep disorders in postmenopausal women by systematic review. Materials and Methods: In this study, SID, Iran Medex, Pubmed, Web of Cochrane library, Science, EMBASE, Scopus, Science direct, Google Scholar databases were used to access related articles. Keywords were selected from PICO and derived from mesh. To search for articles in Persian sources of menopause, insomnia, sleep quality, sleep disorders, valerian, herbal medicines, clinical trial, complementary medicine and in English sources of keywords, insomnia, menopause, valerian, sleep disorder and medication Herbal, Complementary Medicine, and Clinical Trial are all possible combinations of these words with Boolean OR operators, evaluated by December 2021. A separate jadad was used to evaluate the quality of the articles. Results: Out of 389 articles found in the initial search, 6 studies (with a sample size of 637 people) were reviewed. Of these, 3 studies examined the effect of valerian on sleep disorders, 2 studies examined the effect of valerian on sleep quality, and 1 study examined the effect of valerian on the sleep areas of postmenopausal women. Conclusion: Valerian can be considered as a safe treatment for sleep disorders in postmenopausal women. Further studies are suggested to provide stronger scientific evidence for the best dose, the least side effects, and the possibility of meta-analysis.