title: Risk factors for pelvic organ prolapse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the risk factors for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and to determine the relationship between these risk factors and stage or other components of POP.
  
  
  METHODS
  244 patients with primary POP and 314 women without POP were included. Age, parity, smoking, body mass index (BMI), menopause, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Independent risk factors for POP included age over 70, parity higher than 3, and menopause. Age, parity, menopause, and HRT were significantly associated with stage of POP. Genital hiatus (GH) and perineal body (PB) showed a significant positive and negative correlation with age and parity, respectively. Menopause and HRT were also associated with them.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age, parity and menopause are possible risk factors of POP and associated with the lengths of GH and PB in POP women. Further, these risk factors and HRT are significantly correlated with the severity of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Bai
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D052858:Cystocele / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D014596:Uterine Prolapse / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*