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Abstract
Objective Our aim was to systematically review published articles for the prevalence of persistent estrogen depletion symptoms among women aged 65+ years.
Methods A systematic literature search of English-language publications was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. Twenty-three studies that included information on the prevalence of vasomotor and/or urogenital atrophy symptoms among older women (65 + years) met our inclusion criteria. Risk of bias of the included studies was assessed using a risk-of-bias tool explicitly designed for the systematic review of prevalence studies.
Results The available data suggest that vasomotor symptoms are experienced by a considerable proportion of older women, that symptoms of urogenital atrophy including urinary incontinence are widespread, and that women remain sexually active well into later life. A high degree of variability was observed for the prevalence of estrogen deficiency symptoms for women age 65+ years. Discrepancies in modes of recruitment, sampling procedures, time frames over which symptoms were assessed and use of different and non-validated assessment tools contributed to the inconsistencies across the published studies.
Conclusion Larger and appropriately sampled studies, employing validated questionnaires, are still needed to establish the prevalence of persistent estrogen depletion symptoms in women aged 65+ years.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful to Lorena Romero, a librarian at The Ian Potter Library at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne for her assistance in searching the literature.
Conflict of interest Susan Davis is a consultant and investigator for Trimel Pharmaceuticals and has received research support from Lawley Pharmaceuticals and Besins Healthcare; the other authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Source of funding Berihun M. Zeleke is supported by Monash University Postgraduate Research Scholarship and the International Menopause Society Research Bursary for 2014. Susan Davis is an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow (grant number 1041853).