Vaginal Estrogen on Postpartum Atrophy, Perineal Pain, and Sexual Function

November 23, 2021 updated by: Andrew Hundley, Ohio State University

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Vaginal Estrogen on Postpartum Atrophy, Perineal Pain, and Sexual Function

Pilot randomized, placebo-controlled trial of nulliparous postpartum women with a perineal laceration following a term vaginal delivery comparing vulvovaginal atrophy symptoms between women using vaginal estrogen in the postpartum period with those using placebo.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The overall goal of this study is to determine whether there are benefits to use of low-dose vaginal estrogen in the postpartum period. Dyspareunia and vaginal/perineal pain are well-known sequelae after vaginal delivery. However, the contribution of postpartum vaginal atrophy to these issues is largely unknown. Although the relationship between lactation, relative estrogen deprivation, and vulvovaginal atrophy has been established, there is a paucity of data regarding on the prevalence of vulvovaginal atrophy symptoms in the postpartum period. Additionally, although the benefits of vaginal estrogen in postmenopausal atrophy are well-established, the benefits in the postpartum period are unknown.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
59

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43215
        • The Ohio State University Urogynecology Clinic

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • females >18 years old with at least one prior prenatal care appointment affiliated with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; nulliparous; 1-2 days status post >37 weeks and 0 day vaginal delivery with at least a second degree perineal laceration; English-speaking and able to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • allergies to estradiol cream or its constituents; a vaginal delivery associated with a intrauterine fetal demise or neonatal death; inability to complete questionnaires in English or comply with study protocol; and inability to apply vaginal cream independently. The following medical conditions and diagnoses are also exempted: undiagnosed abnormal vaginal bleeding, known or suspected estrogen-dependent neoplasia, active or history of deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, active arterial thromboembolic disease, known liver dysfunction or disease, known protein C, protein S, or antithrombin deficiency, or other known thrombophilic disorders.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Estradiol
Estrace: pea sized amount 2 times per week from week 1 postpartum to 3 months postpartum.
Drug: Estradiol
17β-estradiol vaginal cream
Other Names:
  • Estrace
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Placebo: pea sized amount 2 times per week from week 1 postpartum to 3 months postpartum.
Other: Placebo
Compounded placebo cream

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Vulvar Assessment Scale (VUAS)
Time Frame: 3 months
The VUAS is a four-item measurement administered by a clinical provider that quantifies and rates the patient's responses to questions of dryness, soreness, irritation and pain to external stimulation. Patients are asked whether they have experienced specific symptoms ("yes/no") during the past 4 weeks and rate symptom severity ("none," "mild," "moderate," "severe"). The first 3 items assess dryness, soreness, and irritation during routine activities excluding sexual intercourse and the fourth item assesses pain with external manual stimulation. An option for "no attempt" indicates a patient has not been sexually active within the past 4 weeks. Each item in the VuAS is scored from 0 (none) to 3 (severe) with composite scores calculated by taking the mean of the items when at least two of four items are not missing. Higher scores indicate worse symptoms. The minimum composite score is 0 and maximum composite score is 3.
3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Depression
Time Frame: 3 months
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) The EPDS is a validated 10-question depression assessment for postpartum women, which includes anxiety symptoms and excludes constitutional symptoms associated with depression common in the postpartum period, such as changes in sleeping patterns. Questions 1, 2, & 4 are scored 0, 1, 2 or 3 with top box scored as 0 and the bottom box scored as 3. Questions 3 and 5--10 are reverse scored, with the top box scored as a 3 and the bottom box scored as 0. Minimum total score: 0 Maximum total score: 30. Total score of 10 or higher may be indicative of postpartum depression.
3 months
Urinary Symptoms
Time Frame: 3 months
Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI-6) The UDI-6 is a questionnaire that includes 6 items evaluating bother from urinary symptoms with higher scores indicating more disability. Each item is scored from 0-3. The total score is the average individual score multiplied by 25. The minimal score is 0 and maximum score is 100.
3 months
Fecal Incontinence
Time Frame: 3 months
Fecal Incontinence Severity Index (FISI) for bowel symptoms The FISI evaluates patient responses symptom severity to fecal incontinence with higher scores indicating more bothersome anal incontinence symptoms. The FISI score ranges from 0 to 61 with higher score indicating higher severity of the fecal incontinence.
3 months
Sexual Function
Time Frame: 3 months
Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) The FSFI is a validated questionnaire to assess sexual function in six domains of sexual function, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain over the 4 weeks prior to administration of questionnaire with lower scores indicating more sexual dysfunction. The FSFI score ranges from 2-36 with LOWER score indicating worse sexual dysfunction.
3 months
Satisfaction Via Likert Scale
Time Frame: 3 months
Likert scale Satisfaction will be assessed using the patient satisfaction questionnaire in response to the question, "How satisfied were you with your progress with this treatment?"
3 months
Adverse Outcomes
Time Frame: 3 months
At each clinical/research visit the participant will be asked about any adverse events (AEs). AEs will be reported with study outcomes.
3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Ohio State University

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
International Urogynecological Association

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Andrew F Hundley, MD, The Ohio State University, Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 15, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
September 1, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 16, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 2, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 10, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 22, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 23, 2021

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2018H0006

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Vaginal Atrophy

Clinical Trials on Estradiol

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings