effect of foeniculum vulgare (fennel) on symptoms of depression and anxiety in postmenopausal women: a double-blind randomised controlled trial

objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of foeniculum vulgare (fennel) on anxiety and depression symptoms in postmenopausal women. materials and methods: this study was a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, in which 66 eligible postmenopausal women were selected and then randomly assigned to fennel and placebo groups. then, symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured using hospital anxiety and depression scale (hads) and zung’s self rating depression scale (sds). following the intervention, the score of hads (depression and anxiety subgroups) and sds did not show any significant decrease in the sample under study.result: the score of the sds questionnaire before the intervention showed no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.9). after the intervention, the score of the two questionnaires did not show a significant decrease. after the intervention, the mean decrease in the sds score in the intervention group was higher (7.71 ± 15.99) compared to the placebo group (3.71 ± 9.81), but was not statistically significant (p=0.58). only the analysis of patients with depression or anxiety disorder showed a borderline or significant improvement.conclusion: the analysis of patients with depression or anxiety disorder showed a borderline or significant improvement. further studies with a larger sample size are required to confirm the finding