An overview of the phytoestrogen effect on vaginal health and dyspareunia in peri- and post-menopausal women

Dizavandi FR 1 , Ghazanfarpour M 2 , Roozbeh N 3 , Kargarfard L 4 , Khadivzadeh T 5 , Dashti S 6

Affiliations 

  • 1 1 Department of Community Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
  • 2 2 Department of Midwifery, Razi School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
  • 3 3 Mother and Child Welfare Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Science, Bander Abbas, Iran
  • 4 4 Instructor of Fatemeh School Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran
  • 5 5 Department of Evidence-Based Care Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
  • 6 6 Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Post Reprod Health, 2019 Mar;25(1):11-20.
PMID: 30786797 DOI: 10.1177/2053369118823365

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this overview was to evaluate the effectiveness of phytoestrogens on vaginal health and dyspareunia in peri- and post-menopausal women.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three databases including MEDLINE, Scopus and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were from inception to August 2017.

RESULT: Two systematic reviews and 11 RCTs were included in the overview. According to the findings, isoflavones increased the maturation value and attenuated the vaginal atrophy in the post-menopausal women. Topical isoflavones had beneficial effects on the vaginal atrophy. Similar efficacy was found in Pueraria mirifica and conjugated estrogen cream on dryness ( p = 0.277), soreness ( p = 0.124) and irritation ( p = 0.469), as well as discharge ( p = 0.225) and dyspareunia ( p = 0.089). However, the conjugated estrogen cream was more effective compared to Pueraria mirifica ( p > 0.005) regarding maturation index improvement. Comparison of fennel 5% vaginal cream and placebo gel showed significant difference in superficial cells ( p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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