The Effect of Citrus Aurantium Vaginal Cream on Vaginal Atrophy in Postmenopausal Women: A Quasi-experimental Study.
Homeira Asgharpoor, Fatemeh Hadizadeh-Talasaz, Roghayeh Rahmani and 2 others
PMID 38328013WHAT IT FOUND
Thirty postmenopausal women using citrus aurantium vaginal cream reported lower vaginal dryness, itching, burning and pain during sex, and vaginal pH and cell maturity improved over four weeks.
No control group or placebo, so this cannot show the cream caused the change.
Key findings
01The mean total self-reported vaginal atrophy symptom score fell from 174.67 before treatment to 58.83 after four weeks, with significant differences over time.
02Vaginal pH fell from 7.70 before treatment to 4.70 after four weeks, and vaginal maturation value rose from 47.51 to 68.15 over the same period.
03Sixty percent of the 30 participants reported being very satisfied, and no adverse effects were reported.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
There was no control group or placebo, so improvement cannot be separated from natural variation, expectation or other time-related changes. Only 30 women completed the study, after two were excluded for irregular cream use or missed visits. Participants were selected from one clinic in Iran and had to meet specific symptom and laboratory criteria, so results may not apply to other settings or women with different severity. Symptom outcomes were self-reported and the vaginal mucosa examination was done by the first researcher, without blinding. Follow-up was only four weeks, and the study did not compare the cream with standard lubricants, moisturizers or hormone therapy.
Declared interests
The paper is tagged as non-U.S. government research support; no conflict-of-interest declaration is reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that citrus aurantium vaginal cream treats vaginal atrophy. The study had no control group or placebo, so the four-week changes may reflect natural variation, expectation or other time-related changes rather than the cream.