Genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Prevalence and quality of life in Spanish postmenopausal women. The GENISSE study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Prevalence of symptoms and signs of genitourinary syndrome of menopause.

Table 1. Intensity of main symptoms and signs of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). Data are given as n (%).

	n	Mild	Moderate	Severe
Genital symptoms
vaginal dryness	401	129 (32.1)	196 (48.9)	76 (19.0)
reduced lubrication^a	279	91 (32.6)	118 (42.3)	70 (25.1)
dyspareunia^a	253	94 (37.1)	110 (43.5)	49 (19.4)
irritation/burning/itching of vulva   and vagina	272	148 (54.4)	95 (34.9)	29 (10.7)
Urinary symptoms
dysuria	122	89 (75.0)	30 (25.0)	3 (2.5)
urinary urgency/frequency	118	40 (33.9)	75 (63.6)	3 (2.5)
Signs
decreased moisture	403	165 (40.9)	189 (46.9)	49 (12.2)
loss of vaginal rugae	337	159 (47.2)	153 (45.4)	25 (7.4)
vaginal pallor	321	182 (56.7)	121 (37.7)	18 (5.6)
fragility/fissures/petechiae	201	131 (65.2)	60 (29.8)	10 (5.0)

^a Calculated in women with sexual activity in the past month.

Table 2. Prevalence and intensity of symptoms and signs of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) in women with up to 5 years, and more than 5 years of menopause. Data are given as n (%). Percentages of mild, moderate and severe are calculated from the total number of patients with the symptom or the sign.

	Time from menopause
	≤5 years (n = 167)	>5 years (n = 263)	p value
Genital symptoms
Vaginal dryness	149 (89.2)	252 (95.8)	0.008
mild	61 (41.0)	68 (27.0)	0.007
moderate	68 (45.6)	128 (50.8)
severe	20 (13.4)	56 (22.2)
Reduced lubrication^a	123 (87.8)	156 (91.2)	0.424
mild	49 (39.8)	42 (26.9)	0.041
moderate	50 (40.7)	68 (43.6)
severe	24 (19.5)	46 (29.5)
Dyspareunia^a	112 (80.5)	141 (82.4)	0.671
mild	47 (42.0)	47 (33.3)	0.140
moderate	49 (43.7)	61 (43.3)
severe	16 (14.3)	33 (23.4)
Postcoital bleeding^a	8 (5.7)	16 (9.3)	0.238
Irritation/burning/itching of vulva and vagina	101 (60.5)	171 (65.0)	0.341
mild	60 (59.4)	88 (51.5)	0.350
moderate	33 (32.7)	62 (36.2)
severe	8 (7.9)	21 (12.3)
Urinary symptoms
Dysuria	35 (21.0)	87 (33.1)	0.007
mild	29 (82.9)	60 (69.0)	0.295
moderate	6 (17.1)	24 (27.6)
severe	0 (0.0)	3 (3.4)
Urinary urgency/frequency	32 (19.2)	86 (32.7)	0.002
mild	11 (34.4)	29 (33.7)	1.000
moderate	20 (62.5)	55 (64.0)
severe	1 (3.1)	2 (2.3)
Signs
Decreased moisture	147 (88.0)	256 (97.3)	<0.001
mild	69 (46.9)	96 (37.5)	0.107
moderate	65 (44.3)	124 (48.4)
severe	13 (8.8)	36 (14.1)
Loss of vaginal rugae	114 (68.3)	223 (84.8)	<0.001
mild	70 (61.4)	89 (39.9)	<0.001
moderate	39 (34.2)	114 (51.1)
severe	5 (4.4)	20 (9.0)
Vaginal pallor	105 (62.9)	216 (82.1)	<0.001
mild	76 (72.4)	106 (49.1)	<0.001
moderate	26 (24.8)	95 (44.0)
severe	3 (2.8)	15 (6.9)
Fragility/fissures/petechiae	56 (33.5)	145 (55.1)	<0.001
mild	41 (73.2)	90 (62.1)	0.227
moderate	14 (25.0)	46 (31.7)
severe	1 (1.8)	9 (6.2)
Decreased elasticity	101 (60.5)	195 (74.1)	0.003
Introital retraction	33 (19.8)	102 (38.8)	<0.001
Prominence of urethral meatus	18 (10.8)	55 (20.9)	0.006
Urethral prolapse	6 (3.6)	23 (8.7)	0.038
Labia minora resorption^b	33 (22.2)	111 (46.2)	<0.001
Loss of hymenal remnants^b	34 (22.5)	127 (55.2)	<0.001

^a Calculated in women with sexual activity in the past month; ^bcalculated in women in which these signs were evaluated.

Table 3. Association of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) with urogynecological pathologies. Data are given as n (%).

Previous diagnosis of main urogynecological pathologies	Total (n = 242)	Patients with GSM (n = 195)	Patients without GSM (n = 47)	p value
Stress incontinence	63 (26.0)	55 (87.3)	8 (12.7)	0.001
Mixed incontinence	20 (8.3)	19 (95.0)	1 (5.0)	0.01
Overactive bladder	20 (8.3)	20 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	0.002
Recurrent urinary tract infections	38 (15.7)	32 (84.2)	6 (15.8)	0.062
Vaginal prolapse	38 (15.7)	33 (86.8)	5 (13.2)	0.02

Table 4. Impact of vaginal symptoms on the quality of life of postmenopausal women (DIVA questionnaire). Data are given as mean ± standard deviation.

	n	Overall	Women with GSM (n = 299)	Women without GSM (n = 124)	p value
Activities of daily living	391	0.7 (0.8)	0.8 (0.8)	0.3 (0.6)	<0.001
Emotional well-being	400	0.7 (0.9)	0.9 (0.9)	0.3 (0.6)	<0.001
Sexual functioning (short version)	389	1.7 (1.1)	1.9 (1.1)	1.1 (1.0)	<0.001
Sexual functioning (long version)^a	270	1.8 (1.0)	2.0 (1.0)	1.1 (0.9)	<0.001
Self-concept and body image	399	1.4 (1.1)	1.7 (1.1)	0.8 (0.9)	<0.001

^a Calculated in women with sexual activity in the past month.

GSM, genitourinary syndrome of menopause.