Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2004 , Vol 7, Issue 4
VULVA PROBLEMS THAT ARE AFFECTING THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN ELDERLY
Nazan TUNA ORAN, Hafize ÖZTÜRK
Ege Ãœniversitesi Ä°zmir Atatürk SaÄŸlık Yüksekokulu, Ä°ZMÄ°R The physical, economical, and psychosocial consequences of increasing elderly population affect the quality of life and health of both the population and individual itself. As the elderly population is growing, more elderly women are admitted to the gynecology departments. The elderly woman.s health is affected by physiological changes occurring during ageing as well as some social and economical factors. These are the menstruation, pregnancy, infertility, labor, postpartum events, and menopause. Woman’s health in elderly includes gynecological cancers, vulvar dystrophy leading to intractable pruritis and vulvadinia, and some atrophic genital changes resulting from the decreased estrogens. Most of the gynecological diseases can be managed successfully with early diagnosis and treatment thus making possible leading a good life. Helping the women having this kind of elderly-related problems with physical, psychological and social dimensions, and developing coping strategies is one of the responsibilities belonging to the nurse and midwifery. Keywords : Older women, Vulva diseases, Quality of life.