Comparative Evaluation for the Efficacy of Collecting Sample by using Vaginal Atrophy Screening Combistick (VAS Combistick) as against the Traditional Method of Collecting Sample for Screening of Vaginal Atrophy in Perimenopausal Women

Background: Genitals and sexuality is an essential element of healthy and happily aging perimenopausal women with their partners. Vaginal atrophy (VA) of menopause is a condition associated to physiological, histological and anatomical changes noticed in the genital and urinary tracts in peri and postmenopausal women. Vaginal atrophy is the sequel of the decrease levels of estrogens in plasma, which are symptoms of menopause.

Objectives: 1. To evaluate the baseline data for vaginal maturation index (VMI) & pH in perimenopausal women. 2. To evaluate and compare the method of collecting sample by using VAS combistick & traditional method. 3. To evaluate and compare the accuracy of VMI score & pH using VAS combistick & traditional method. 4. To evaluate and compare the feasibility & acceptability using survey based analysis in VAS combistick method and traditional method.

Methodology: This will be an interventional-cross sectional comparative study. This study will include women who will come to Acharya Vinobha Bhave Rural Hospital (Obstetric and Gynaecology) OPD with at least one symptoms of vaginal atrophy. These women will take self sampling by using VAS combistick will be included in ‘sampling A’ (self sampling group) while, samples of the same group of patients taken by the traditional method will be included in ‘sampling B’ (clinician sampling group).

Results: In this study we have hypothesized that vaginal sampling by vaginal atrophy screening (VAS) combistick may be better when compared to traditional method of sampling for screening of vaginal atrophy in terms of adequacy, feasibility and acceptability.

Conclusion: VAS combistick may be considered as an alternative and better examining strategy which may give a reproducible and equivalent result to screening of vaginal atrophy in comparison to that of traditional sampling methods.