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Estradiol Acetate Vaginal Ring Accepted by Community Based Population of Women: Presented at NAMS

By Denise Mann
Special to DG News

CHICAGO, IL -- October 4, 2002 -- An estradiol acetate vaginal ring delivering 50 µg of estradiol for three months is well-tolerated by a community-based population of postmenopausal women, a new study shows.

In earlier studies Menoring, which is approved in the United Kingdom for the treatment of vasomotor and urogenital symptoms of menopause, was inserted and removed by a health care professional. These studies showed that 50 percent of 199 women surveyed inserted the vaginal ring themselves and 68 percent removed it themselves at some point during the study, according to researcher H.M. Buckler, MD, FRCP, of the department of endocrinology at the University of Manchester and Hope Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom.

The new study enrolled Women who had been treated for moderate-to-severe menopausal symptoms by their gynaecologist, gyneacology nurse or primary care physician. The women completed a 17-item, anonymous questionnaire after using the VR for three months. Questions focused on ease of insertion and removal, patient comfort and removal satisfaction.

The results, presented here October 4^th at the 13^th annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), showed that 79 percent of patients were "very satisfied" or "mostly satisfied" with the vaginal ring (VR). In fact, 81 percent of women in the study reported that they would continue treatment with the ring.

There were no demographic or predictive factors that differentiated satisfied users from those who were not satisfied, Dr. Buckler said.

Fifty-five percent of women said they could not feel it in place and an additional 31 percent felt it for less than five days. More than half of women said they felt no discomfort after insertion.

"Most women found the VR easy to insert and remove, and a majority experienced only minimal discomfort after insertion," Dr. Buckler said. Specifically, 85 percent of women who inserted the ring themselves found it "very easy" or "somewhat easy" and 87 percent found it "very easy" or "somewhat easy" to remove the VR, the study found.

"The high level of comfort reported by women using the VR in a clinical-use setting was consistent with results seen in controlled clinical trials of the VR," Dr. Buckler added.

In addition, of 83 women who said they experienced pain during sexual intercourse before they began using the vaginal ring, 61 percent noted improvement after using the ring. Expulsion of the ring occurred in 2 percent of women during urination, 1 percent during intercourse and 1.5 percent during physical activity, the study showed.

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