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Current patient perspectives of vulvovaginal candidiasis: incidence, symptoms, management and post-treatment outcomes
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common infection affecting women worldwide. Reports of patterns/risk factors/trends for episodic/recurrent VVC (RVVC) are largely outdated. The purpose of this study was to obtain current patient perspectives of several aspects of VVC/RVVC. METHODS: Business cards containing on-line survey information were distributed to healthy volunteers and patients seeking standard, elective, or referral gynecologic care in university-affiliated Obstetrics/Gynecology clinics. The internet-based questionnaire was completed by 284 non-pregnant women (78% Caucasian, 14% African American, 8% Asian). RESULTS: The majority of the participants (78%) indicated a history of VVC with 34% defined as having RVVC. The most common signs/symptoms experienced were itching, burning and redness with similar ranking of symptoms among VVC and RVVC patients. Among risk factors, antibiotic use ranked highest followed by intercourse, humid weather and use of feminine hygiene products. A high number of respondents noted 'no known cause' (idiopathic episodes) that was surprisingly similar among women with a history of either VVC or RVVC. VVC/RVVC episodes reported were primarily physician-diagnosed (73%) with the remainder mostly reporting self-diagnosis and treating with over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Most physician-diagnosed attacks utilized a combination of pelvic examination and laboratory tests followed by prescribed antifungals. Physician-treated cases achieved a higher level of symptom relief (84%) compared to those who self-medicated (57%). The majority of women with RVVC (71%) required continual or long-term antifungal medication as maintenance therapy to control symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Current patient perspectives closely reflect historically documented estimates of VVC/RVVC prevalence and trends regarding symptomatology, disease management and post-treatment outcomes.
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“In a 2016–2018 survey of 284 women, 71% of participants reported needing continual or long-term antifungal therapy to manage their symptoms (Yano et al., 2019).”
From Management of recurrent vulvovaginal candidosis: Narrative review of the literature and European expert panel opinion (2022) · cites this paper as Yano et al., 2019
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“Evidence shows that physician-treated cases achieved a higher level of symptom relief (84%) than self-medicated cases (57%) (Yano et al., 2019).”
From Management of recurrent vulvovaginal candidosis: Narrative review of the literature and European expert panel opinion (2022) · cites this paper as Yano et al., 2019
In the citing paper
“Women who reported having self-diagnosed an infection were less likely to report symptom relief compared with women who were diagnosed by a physician: 57% versus 84%, respectively. 19”
From Clinical challenges in diagnosis and treatment of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
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“Possible reasons are connected with hyperglycemia in vaginal cells. It is associated with increased fungal adhesion and binding and also reduces the ability of neutrophils to perform effective phagocytosis of these cells [15,47].”
From Treatment of Vulvovaginal Candidiasis—An Overview of Guidelines and the Latest Treatment Methods (2023) · cites this paper as [15]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Yano, J., Sobel, J. D., Nyirjesy, P., Sobel, R., Williams, V. L., Yu, Q., Noverr, M. C., & Fidel, P. L.
- Affiliations
- Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans (US)
- Wayne State University (US)
- Drexel University (US)
- Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (US)
- Tulane University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fidel, Paul L.
- ORCID
- Venue
- BMC Women's Health
- Published
- 2019-03-29
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 48-48
- ISSN
- 1472-6874 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6441174
- OpenAlex
- W2940415202
- Cited by
- 270
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 9
- FWCI
- 22.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Women s Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- The Medicine Forum (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- LSUHSC Foundation
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54 GM104940)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Reproductive tract infections research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Urinary Tract Infections Management
- Keywords
- vaginal candidiasis, recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, patient perspectives, clinical symptoms, risk factors, antibiotic use, self-medication, antifungal therapy, maintenance therapy, physician diagnosis, prevalence
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Antifungal Agents, Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Health Status, Humans, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, Incidence, Treatment Outcome, Young Adult
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