title: Urogenital symptoms and resulting discomfort in non-institutionalized Dutch women aged 50-75 years.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of urogenital symptoms in non-institutionalized Dutch women aged 50-75 years, and the degree of discomfort suffered as a result. A questionnaire was sent to 2157 women, a sample representative of the female population aged 50-75 years with respect to age, marital status, level of education and menopausal age. The usable response was 81.6% (n = 1761). The overall prevalence of vaginal dryness, soreness and dyspareunia was 27%. The prevalence of micturition symptoms, urinary incontinence and recurrent urinary tract infection was 36%. The prevalence estimates for vaginal dryness and urinary incontinence showed a linear decrease with increasing age. Almost half of the symptomatic women reported moderate to severe discomfort. One-third of those affected received medical care. Previous hysterectomy had no effect on the reported prevalence estimates. Hysterectomized women reported moderate to severe complaints more often than non-hysterectomized ones. There were no significant differences in prevalence estimates between former and current smokers and non-smokers.
authors.affiliation: St. Anna Hospital, Oss, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: van Geelen
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: van de Weijer
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Arnolds
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D003688:Deinstitutionalization; D005260:Female; D052776:Female Urogenital Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D017698:Postmenopause; D015995:Prevalence; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000453:epidemiology; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000473:pathology; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology