Prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in postmenopausal women: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Bacterial vaginosis (BV), the most common cause of vaginal discharge in women of reproductive age, is associated with considerable reproductive and gynaecological sequelae and increases the risk of acquiring sexually transmissible infections including HIV. Although we understand the burden of BV in women of reproductive age, much less is known about the burden of BV in postmenopausal women. We undertook this systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of BV in postmenopausal women. The electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library were searched for English-language papers reporting on the prevalence of BV in postmenopausal women and publishe..