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.
Keywords: INCONTINENCE; OLDER WOMEN; PREVALENCE; SYSTEMATIC REVIEW; VASOMOTOR SYMPTOMS; VULVOVAGINAL ATROPHY.