NAMS: Postmenopausal Women Find New Vaginal Ring Delivery System Easy to Use

DGDispatch

By Deanna M Green, PhD

MIAMI, FL -- October 15, 2003 -- Postmenopausal women who tried a new vaginal ring delivery system find it is easy to use, comfortable, and highly acceptable, according to findings presented here September 19th at the 14th Annual Meeting of The North American Menopause Society.

Vaginal ring delivery of estradiol acetate has recently been approved for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms and genital atrophy in postmenopausal women. Clinical trials have indicated that this new delivery system is highly acceptable. However, patient acceptability was until now not tested in a non-clinical, community-based population.

Arthur F Haney, MD, Duke University Medical Centre, Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues evaluated patient satisfaction with the vaginal ring drug delivery system in a prospective study in 5,831 women (average age 54) on hormone therapy.

All women were given a placebo vaginal ring that was either self-inserted (88.3% of participants) or inserted by a health care provider. Questionnaires evaluated acceptance and comfort at insertion and at Day 5, when patients presented for removal of the ring.

Overall, 86.2% of patients considered the vaginal ring to be either very easy or somewhat easy to insert and remove. More than half of the women reported that they did not perceive the presence of the vaginal ring at all while inserted. However, expulsions occurred in 12.9% of women, and were due mostly to bowel movement, urination, and physical activity or exercise.

Of the 1,660 women who had sexual intercourse while wearing the ring, 7.2% reported that the vaginal ring interfered with sex and 29% of partners said they felt the ring during intercourse. Most of the partners were told ahead of time that the ring was present.

Notably, patient acceptability was high and increased from pre-study to end of study and was equal in women experiencing vaginal dryness and those not experiencing dryness.

Dr. Harvey noted that overall patient satisfaction was evident in that "74% of women stated that they would tell a friend or family member about the ring."

[Study title: Evaluation of Acceptance and Satisfaction with the Use of a Vaginal Ring Delivery System in Postmenopausal Women. Poster-45]


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