Prevalence and correlates of vaginal estrogenization in postmenopausal women in the United States

Objective: This work aims to establish current population-based vaginal estrogenization norms for postmenopausal US women. Methods: Using a US national probability sample of 868 postmenopausal women ages 57 to 85 years (mean age 67.6 ± 0.3 y, 21.6 ± 0.5 y since menopause), we calculated the epithelial maturation value (MV) generated from self-collected vaginal specimens and compared findings with historical clinical data. Linear and logistic regressions were used to describe the relationship between vaginal estrogenization and sociodemographic, physical, gynecologic, and sexual characteristics. Results: Among postmenopausal women, mean MV was 46.6 ± 0.8 (SD 17.4, range 2.5-100) and stable across age groups. In every age group, vaginal estrogenization was higher among postmenopausal nonusers of hormone therapy (HT) in the 2005-2006 US cohort than reported for the 1960s Canadian clinical cohort. MV was also higher among women who used postmenopausal HT in the prior 12 months compared with those who did not (55.1 ± 1.2 vs 44.4 ± 0.9, P 
Source: Menopause - Category: OBGYN Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research