Comparison between vaginal royal jelly and vaginal estrogen effects on quality of life and vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a clinical trial study

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effects of vaginal royal jelly and vaginal estrogen on quality of life and vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women. METHODS: This double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out at gynecology and obstetrics clinics of Hajar Hospital of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences (Iran) from January 2013 to January 2014. The study was conducted on married postmenopausal women between 50 and 65 years old. Of 120 patients, 30 individuals were excluded based on the exclusion criteria, and 90 women were randomly distributed into three groups of 30 royal jelly vaginal cream 15%, vaginal Premarin, and placebo (lubricant), for three months. At the beginning and the end of the study, quality of life and vaginal cytology assay were evaluated. Data were analyzed by SPSS Version 11. RESULTS: Vaginal cream of royal jelly is significantly more effective than vaginal cream of Premarin and lubricant in improvement of quality of life in postmenopausal women (p<0.05). Moreover, Pap smear results showed that vaginal atrophy in vaginal Premarin group was lower than the other groups (p<0.001), and there was no significant difference between lubricant and royal jelly groups (p=0.89). CONCLUSION: Administration of vaginal royal jelly was effective in quality-of-life improvement of postmenopausal women. Given to the various properties of royal jelly and its effectiveness on quality of life and vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women, further studies are recommended for using =royal jelly in improving menopausal symptoms. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (http://www.irct.ir) with the IRCT code: 2014112220043n1. FUNDING: Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences supported this research (project no. 1440).