The Comparison of Clinical and Laboratory Indexes for Diagnosis of Vaginal Atrophy in Postmenopausal Women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

2 M.Sc. Student of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ovulation Dysfunction Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

4 Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

5 Professor, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

6 Professor, Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Vaginal atrophy (VA) causes by estrogen deficiency and occurs in postmenopausal women. Today, clinical signs and symptoms are used for detection of vaginal atrophy. Laboratory techniques are other methods that can be used. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and laboratory indexes for the diagnosis of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women.
Methods: This correlational study was conducted in 2013 on 100 postmenopausal women who had attended tohealth centers number 1 and 3 and gynecology clinic of Ghaem hospital of Mashhad, Iran. Data were gathered by a demographic information form and observation and examination of vaginal atrophy form. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 11.5, descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation coefficients. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: There was not significant correlation between vaginal dryness (p=0.08), elasticity of vagina (p=0.26), color of vagina (p=0.14), rugae (p=0.68) and vaginal petechiae (p=0.52) with vaginal maturation value but there was positive correlation between petechiae (p=0.00) and color of vagina (p=0.03) with vaginal PH.
Conclusion: There are differences between the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of vaginal atrophy. Recognition of vaginal atrophy based on clinical signs and symptoms is not enough and according to the adverse effects of hormone therapy, it is recommended that definitive diagnosis of vaginal atrophy should be made based on laboratory evaluation.

Keywords

References

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