THE PREVALENCE OF UROGENITAL SYMPTOMS IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Lower urogenital tract disorders, such as vaginal athropy, urethritis, dyspareunia, recurrent urinary tract infections and urinary incontine nce symptoms, are more prevalent in postmenopausal women. While these disorders are attributed to the ageing process as well as estrogen def iciency, knowledge of the relationship between estrogen status and sym ptomatology is scarce and hard to investigate due to the complexity of the problem. Little is known about the epidemiology of urogenital sym ptoms and their relationship to estrogen status and treatment. Studies of the prevalence of urogenital symptoms in postmenopausal women have been rare and results divergent. Through reviewing existing literatur e and relating findings to our own prevalence studies of 61-, 71- and 81-year-old women, we can conclude that many of the symptoms accounted for in our study are those known to be due to the loss of estrogen an d easily dealt with by estrogen therapy. However, there is a need for more adequate information about postmenopausal symptoms and the effect of estrogens, as only a minority of postmenopausal women are currentl y treated.