Genitourinary syndrome in menopause: impact of vaginal symptoms

Objective. To describe the impact of genitourinary syndrome symptoms on daily functioning and well-being in peri- and postmenopausal women living in an urban area. Materials and methods. Observational, cross-sectional research in a population of peri- and postmenopausal women living in the Lima region. A non-probabilistic sample was used. The instrument used is The Day-to-Day Impact of Vaginal Aging questionnaire. Made up of four domains, it has an internal reliability between 0.82 and 0.93. The questions have answers using a Likert scale. High values indicate a more severe impact. Statistical procedures were performed using SPSS version 26. Results. 1,070 women participated; mean age was 54 ±7.5 years. The results corresponding to the activities of daily living domain 35% of women manifested the presence of regular vaginal symptoms and 14.7% greater symptoms, in the emotional well-being domain, 90% corresponded to minor symptoms. In the sexual function domain, 57.6% presented fewer vaginal symptoms and in the self-concept and body image domain, 60.9% reported the presence of fewer symptoms and 20.7% more symptoms. According to the global score, 60.9% presented minor discomfort, 36.3% regular discomfort and 2.8% major discomfort. The women with sexual activity presented an impact of severity in domain activities of daily living and sexual function (p<0.05). Conclusion. Exist a relationship between activities of daily living, sexual function and women with sexual activity, causing a negative impact on social life and quality of life.