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Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: The impact of postmenopausal vaginal atrophy and women's coping strategies were evaluated through international focus groups. METHODS: Three-hour focus groups of three to five postmenopausal women who had symptoms of vaginal atrophy but had not sought treatment were conducted in Cana...

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Autores principales: Utian, W. H., Maamari, R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Informa Healthcare 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3913012/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24083795
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13697137.2013.850480
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author Utian, W. H.
Maamari, R.
author_facet Utian, W. H.
Maamari, R.
author_sort Utian, W. H.
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: The impact of postmenopausal vaginal atrophy and women's coping strategies were evaluated through international focus groups. METHODS: Three-hour focus groups of three to five postmenopausal women who had symptoms of vaginal atrophy but had not sought treatment were conducted in Canada, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Participants were asked about their experience with menopause and vaginal atrophy, including use of non-prescription treatments and their interactions with health-care providers. Women were classified as one of five personality types, based on their interaction with the world (individualism or belonging) and strategies for coping with stress (control or liberation). RESULTS: Vaginal atrophy was not recognized as a medical condition by focus group participants, and women had not used treatments for vaginal atrophy apart from non-prescription lubricants. Women who had discussed vaginal atrophy symptoms with their doctor felt their concerns were dismissed as a normal part of aging, and they did not receive counseling about treatment options such as low-dose estrogen therapy. Those whose coping strategy involved dominance, combatting, or individualism were more likely to seek treatment than those whose strategy involved submission, acceptance, or belonging. Women who used control to cope with menopausal changes were more likely to respond to information validated by perceived experts than were those who used a strategy of release. CONCLUSIONS: Women's reactions to their vaginal atrophy varied according to personality. Use of a personality-based approach to patient counseling may encourage patients to discuss vaginal atrophy with their health-care provider and seek treatment.
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spelling pubmed-39130122014-02-10 Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study Utian, W. H. Maamari, R. Climacteric Article OBJECTIVE: The impact of postmenopausal vaginal atrophy and women's coping strategies were evaluated through international focus groups. METHODS: Three-hour focus groups of three to five postmenopausal women who had symptoms of vaginal atrophy but had not sought treatment were conducted in Canada, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Participants were asked about their experience with menopause and vaginal atrophy, including use of non-prescription treatments and their interactions with health-care providers. Women were classified as one of five personality types, based on their interaction with the world (individualism or belonging) and strategies for coping with stress (control or liberation). RESULTS: Vaginal atrophy was not recognized as a medical condition by focus group participants, and women had not used treatments for vaginal atrophy apart from non-prescription lubricants. Women who had discussed vaginal atrophy symptoms with their doctor felt their concerns were dismissed as a normal part of aging, and they did not receive counseling about treatment options such as low-dose estrogen therapy. Those whose coping strategy involved dominance, combatting, or individualism were more likely to seek treatment than those whose strategy involved submission, acceptance, or belonging. Women who used control to cope with menopausal changes were more likely to respond to information validated by perceived experts than were those who used a strategy of release. CONCLUSIONS: Women's reactions to their vaginal atrophy varied according to personality. Use of a personality-based approach to patient counseling may encourage patients to discuss vaginal atrophy with their health-care provider and seek treatment. Informa Healthcare 2014-02 2013-11-05 /pmc/articles/PMC3913012/ /pubmed/24083795 http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13697137.2013.850480 Text en © 2014 International Menopause Society http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the source is credited.
spellingShingle Article
Utian, W. H.
Maamari, R.
Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study
title Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study
title_full Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study
title_fullStr Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study
title_full_unstemmed Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study
title_short Attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study
title_sort attitudes and approaches to vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a focus group qualitative study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3913012/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24083795
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13697137.2013.850480
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