Screening for general anxiety disorders in postmenopausal women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of general anxiety disorder (GAD) among postmenopausal women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and to identify its associated factors.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among postmenopausal women with symptomatic POP. Sociodemographic data and medical histories were obtained. Participants completed the POP Quantification (POP-Q), the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-7 (PFIQ-7), and the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20) measures. Measures of GAD were obtained using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The data were analyzed using independent sample t-tests, the Mann–Whitney U-test, χ2 tests, Fisher’s exact tests and logistic regression.Results: Of the 177 participants interviewed, 19.2% had symptoms of GAD. There were no statistically significant differences in the sociodemographic characteristics or the POP-Q stage between women with and without GAD (p > 0.05). GAD was significantly associated with higher PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 subscale scores (p < 0.05). After multiple logistic regression analyses, only the PFIQ-7 subscale UIQ-7 (odds ratio = 1.025, 95% confidence interval 1.007–1.043, p = 0.005) and the PFDI-20 subscale CRADI-8 (odds ratio = 1.025, 95% confidence interval 1.004–1.047, p = 0.021), which represented the impact on quality of life from lower urinary tract symptoms and the distress caused by bowel dysfunction, were risk factors that were independently associated with GAD.Conclusions: GAD is prevalent in almost one-fifth of postmenopausal women with symptomatic POP. GAD is not associated with the severity of the POP-Q stage but is associated with higher scores for lower urinary tract and bowel dysfunction caused by POP.