Effect of age, body mass index, and parity on Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system measurements in women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse.

AIM

To evaluate the effect of age, body mass index (BMI), and parity on Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) system measurements in women with symptomatic prolapse.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The charts of 603 women with symptomatic prolapse were reviewed. Patients with prior prolapse surgery or hysterectomy were excluded. POP-Q measurements were recorded by a single examiner. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Pearson's product-moment correlation, and Wilcoxon signed rank test.

RESULTS

Three hundred and eleven patients met inclusion criteria. Mean age was 63.4 years, mean parity was 2.6, and mean body mass index (BMI) was 26.6 kg/m(2) . Increasing age was correlated with worsening scores on Ba (r = 0.33, P < 0.0001), C (r = 0.14, P < 0.02), D (r = 0.14, P = 0.02) and Bp (r = 0.13, P = 0.02), while parity was only correlated with worsening scores on Aa (r = 0.12, P = 0.04). There was no correlation between BMI and any POP-Q data point.

CONCLUSION

The effect of increasing parity was seen solely on point Aa in women with symptomatic prolapse. Age affected all vaginal compartments, while BMI had no impact on POP-Q data points.