Investigation of the Effect of the Female Urinary Microbiome on Incontinence
This purpose of this study is to understand the types of bacteria that are in the bladder and vagina in patients with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms and understand if the types of bacteria change when with the use of estrogen in the vagina. The investigators are also trying to understand how estrogen influences the body's ability to make substances called peptides that can kill bacteria.
• Women who present with symptoms of OAB, defined as a condition characterized by urgency, with or without urgency incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia in the absence of obvious pathology or infection \[9\], with atrophic vaginitis.
• Postmenopausal by history (i.e., defined as twelve months or greater since last menstrual period), surgical menopause with removal of bilateral ovaries, or age over 55 with a previous hysterectomy (without removal of bilateral ovaries).
• English language skills sufficient to complete questionnaires
• Clinical indication for vaginal estrogen use (i.e., hypoestrogenic findings on physical examination)
• Patients not currently receiving vaginal estrogen therapy