title: Clarifying Vaginal Atrophy's Impact on Sex and Relationships (CLOSER) survey: emotional and physical impact of vaginal discomfort on North American postmenopausal women and their partners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to determine the emotional and physical impact of vaginal atrophy on North American postmenopausal women and their male partners.
  
  
  METHODS
  A weighted sample of 1,000 married or cohabiting North American postmenopausal women aged 55 to 65 years with vaginal discomfort and 1,000 male partners of postmenopausal women aged 55 to 65 years who experienced vaginal discomfort participated in the Clarifying Vaginal Atrophy's Impact on Sex and Relationships (CLOSER) online survey to determine the impact of vaginal discomfort and local estrogen therapy on intimacy, relationships, and women's self-esteem.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vaginal discomfort caused most surveyed North American women to avoid intimacy (58%), experience loss of libido (64%), and experience pain associated with sex (64%). Most surveyed North American men also believed that vaginal discomfort caused their partners to avoid intimacy (78%), experience loss of libido (52%), and find sex painful (59%). Approximately 30% of North American women and men cited vaginal discomfort as the reason they ceased having sex altogether. North American women who used local estrogen therapy to treat their vaginal discomfort reported less painful sex (56%), more satisfying sex (41%), and improved sex life (29%). Most men reported looking forward to having sex (57%) because of their partner's use of local estrogen therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Local estrogen therapy ameliorates the negative impact of vaginal atrophy on the intimate relationships of North American postmenopausal women and their male partners. Additional education and awareness efforts about the symptoms of and available treatments for vaginal atrophy may be of further benefit to North American partners.
authors.affiliation: From the 1Women's Health and Research Consultants, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC; 2Research Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, IRCCS S. Matteo Foundation, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH; 4Clinical Development, Medical and Regulatory Affairs, Novo Nordisk Inc, Princeton, NJ; and 5Family Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Rossella E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Nappi
authors.forename: Sheryl A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kingsberg
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maamari
authors.forename: Vivien
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D003075:Coitus / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D004414:Dyspareunia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000188:drug therapy; D012747:Sexual Partners; D014621:Vagina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens