Online survey of genital and urinary symptoms among Japanese women aged between 40 and 90 years

Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this survey was to assess the prevalence of genital and urinary tract symptoms among Japanese women with declining estrogen levels.

Methods

A health-related questionnaire survey was conducted among women in their 40s or older to inquire about their genital, intercourse-related, and urinary symptoms and concern over their symptoms.

Results

Of the consecutive 10,000 respondents recruited, 4488 (44.9%) reported having symptoms: 3546 (79.0%) expressed concern over their symptoms. Furthermore, 2173 women (21.7%) had incontinence, 1999 (20.0%) had urinary frequency, 1648 (16.5%) had itching, and 1560 (15.6%) reported odor; these were followed by looseness, dryness, and burning. Of the 2518 (25.2%) sexually active women, 518 (20.6%) reported having dyspareunia and more reported having urinary symptoms than genital symptoms. Of the symptomatic respondents, 33.1% had genital symptoms alone, 28.4% had urinary symptoms alone, and 38.4% had both. More sexually active women had genital symptoms, while more sexually inactive women had urinary symptoms.

Conclusions

Genital and urinary symptoms were shown to be common and coexist in a considerable proportion of the respondents, highlighting the pathology of genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Again, dyspareunia and lower urinary tract symptoms were shown to be quite common among postmenopausal women.

摘要

目的：本次调查的目的是评估雌激素水平下降的日本女性中生殖系统症状和泌尿系统症状的患病率。方法：对年龄在40岁以上的女性进行了健康相关的问卷调查, 询问她们的生殖系统, 性生活和泌尿系统症状以及对症状的担忧。结果：在连续招募的10,000名受访者中, 有4488名（44.9％）报告有症状：3546名（79.0％）对她们的症状表示关注。此外, 有2173名妇女（21.7％）有失禁, 1999名女性（20.0％）有尿频, 1648名（16.5％）有瘙痒, 1560名（15.6％）有异味, 然后是松弛, 干燥和烧灼感。在2518名（25.2％）有性生活的妇女中, 有518名（20.6％）报告有轻度性交困难, 并且比起生殖系统症状有更多的泌尿系统症状。在有症状的受访者中, 仅有生殖系统症状占33.1％, 仅有泌尿系统症状占28.4％, 两者都有占38.4％。较多的性活跃女性有生殖系统症状, 而较多性生活不活跃的女性有泌尿系统症状。结论：生殖系统和泌尿系统症状在相当多的受访者中很常见, 而且同时存, 突出了绝经泌尿生殖系统综合征的病理表现。同样, 在绝经后的女性中, 排尿困难和下尿路症状很常见。

Keywords:

• Nationwide online survey
• Japanese women
• genital symptoms
• urinary tract symptoms
• quality of life

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to their co-authors. They would also like to thank all of the subjects who willingly participated in the survey.

Ethical approval

This study followed the Guidelines for the Conduct of Medical Research in Human Subjects (Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology and Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare). Macromill Carenet Inc. was contacted to conduct the survey and followed the Japanese laws, guidelines, and other regulations on protecting the personal information while doing so. The authors were not provided with any information that could be used to identify the individuals.

Potential conflict of interest

H. O. and S. S. received lecture fees from Pfizer and DEKA, respectively (but not in association with this study). The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose regarding this study.

Source of funding

None.