Lower urinary tract symptoms in Thai women attending the menopause clinic: prevalence and associated factors.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms and associated factors in women attending the menopause clinic. METHOD: Nine hundred and fifty-six women attending the menopause clinic, Ramathibodi Hospital were interviewed regarding their general health issues and lower urinary tract symptoms by means of an anonymous questionnaire. Demographic data, obstetric history, and underlying diseases were analysed by using Student t-test, Chi-square and Fisher exact test. P < 0.05 was considered as a level of significance. RESULTS: A total of 956 women, mean age 52.89 +/- 5.80 years, completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of stress incontinence, nocturia, urgency, frequency, and urge incontinence were 58.3%, 40.3%, 33.9%, 22.7%, and 6.6%, respectively. Lower urinary tract symptoms was found to be associated with marital status, coexisting medical diseases, menopausal status, previous term delivery, and vaginal delivery (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Lower urinary tract symptoms was a common problem among women attending the menopause clinic. Marital status, coexisting medical diseases, menopausal status, parity, and mode of delivery were associated with this problem.

Alleviation of the climacteric symptoms with oral sequential hormone replacement therapy.

The efficacy of the oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT) preparation estradiol valerate/levonorgestrel (EV/LNG, Klimonorm) in the alleviation of the menopausal complaints of peri- and postmenopausal Thai women was studied in a prospective, open, uncontrolled phase IV clinical trial. Of the 50 peri- or postmenopausal women screened, 39 completed the study. From them 31 were postmenopausal and 8 perimenopausal. The participants received EV/LNG over a period of 6 cycles. The Menopause Rating Scale II (MRS II) was used to assess the effect of EV/LNG on the menopausal symptoms. The changes in the main parameters of the MRS II during the treatment with EV/LNG showed that the general score decreased by 34.9 per cent after 3 months and was kept at the same value after 6 months of treatment. The somato-vegetative complaints decreased by 32.5 per cent after 3 months and by 35 per cent after 6 months. The psychological complaints decreased by 34.1 per cent after 3 months and by 32.9 per cent after 6 months. The urogenital complaints decreased by 29.3 per cent after 3 months, and remained at the same level after 6 months of treatment. In conclusion, the 6-months administration of the oral HRT preparation estradiol valerate/levonorgestrel caused a considerable alleviation of the climacteric symptoms in menopausal women.