Use of pelvic organ prolapse staging systems in published articles of selected specialized journals.
OBJECTIVE
A standardized system for reporting pelvic organ prolapse is important for clinical communication, patient follow-up, and meaningful comparisons between studies. In 1996, the description of the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system (POPQ) was published. We hypothesized that its use in published articles of specialized journals would increase over time.


METHODS
Articles from eight journals in 2004 and 2007 were included if any attempt to grade prolapse was mentioned. Reviews, editorials, and abstracts were excluded.


RESULTS
Use of POPQ increased from 64.9% to 82.1% (p = 0.01) while other systems decreased. POPQ was used more frequently in the US than other countries. Urologists used POPQ less and Baden-Walker more frequently than other specialists.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of POPQ has increased in the period studied. This trend was observed in all the subgroups analyzed, showing that POPQ is being adopted as the universal language of prolapse in the published literature.
Treszezamsky
Alejandro Daniel
AD
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. alejandro.treszezamsky@mssm.edu
Rascoff
Lauren
L
Shahryarinejad
Azin
A
Vardy
Michael D
MD
D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D056887:Pelvic Organ Prolapse / Q000145:classification*