What women think about menopause: An Italian survey.

INTRODUCTION: Menopause is a critical period for most women who experience associated symptoms while they are still socially and individually active. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to report how Italian women perceive and approach menopause. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey of 1028 Italian women aged 45-65 years was conducted by the Italian Center for Studies of Social Investments (CENSIS) through anonymous interviews using two methods: CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) and CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing). PRINCIPAL OUTCOME MEASURES: Principal outcome measures were women's perceptions and experiences of menopause and its treatments. RESULTS: The global consciousness and understanding of menopause was common (82.8 %) among Italian women and it was usually considered a physiological condition (77 %). Overall, 74.6 % of the sample were postmenopausal. Hot flushes were reported to be the most frequent (37.9 %) and bothersome symptoms (43.1 %) while 12.9 % of the women were asymptomatic. As for menopausal therapies, 24.5 % were on treatment; herbal medications were the most common remedy (63.3 %) whereas 7.6 % of the women took hormone replacement therapy (HRT). About half of the sample (50.4 %) had not sought help from the Italian National Health System (INHS). Medical expertise in the field of menopause was thought to be moderately satisfactory by 54.5 % of the sample. CONCLUSIONS: Italian women consider menopause a physiological condition. Most postmenopausal women had experienced symptoms but relied on non-hormonal treatments. The median women's satisfaction with the role of the INHS and medical competence suggests the need to improve current knowledge and awareness concerning menopause.

Dimensions of Personality Organization and Sexual Life in a Community Sample of Women.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between dimensions of borderline personality organization (as assessed according to Kernberg's model), sexual dysfunctions, and paraphilic interest in a community sample of women. Two hundred and sixty-six healthy women were asked to complete a set of questionnaires including the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO), the Italian version of the Female Sexual Function Index, and a checklist to assess the prevalence of paraphilic interests. Results showed that women with sexual dysfunctions and paraphilic interests are characterized by higher scores on three out of four IPO subscales: Instability of self/others, Instability of behavior, and Psychosis. The results provide evidence of a possible connection between borderline personality organization and sexual life and support the need for a thorough assessment of personality functioning in patients with sexual problems.

The use of amielle vaginal trainers as adjuvant in the treatment of vestibulodynia: an observational multicentric study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of a specific set of vaginal dilators (Amielle Comfort) as a part of vestibulodynia therapy. STUDY DESIGN: Fifteen women referred for vestibulodynia, localized vulvodynia, were advised to use vaginal dilators (Amielle Comfort) accompanied by standardized instructions, after previously receiving 1 or more therapies for the vestibulodynia. RESULTS: The post-treatment Marinoff scale for dyspareunia significantly improved in patients after vaginal dilator treatment compared with baseline values (2.2 +/- 0.4 vs 1.1 +/- 0.9; P < .01), and the Female Sexual Function Index scores were significantly improved compared with the prestudy values (16.3 +/- 5.5 vs 25.3 +/- 7.5; P < .01). CONCLUSION: Among women with previous therapy for vestibulodynia, vaginal dilator use was associated with improvement in symptoms. Vaginal dilators can play an important role in overcoming pelvic floor muscular responses that remain and sometimes increase after pain perception has decreased.