Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of participants

Baseline characteristics	Pessary therapy n=218	Surgery n=221
Age, mean (SD)	64.8 (9.5), n=218	64.7 (9.2), n=221
Risk-increasing aspects*, n, (%)	71 (32.6), n=218	58 (26.2), n=221
History of gynaecological surgery, n (%)	22 (10.1), n=218	28 (12.7), n=221
Family history of prolapse, n (%)	106 (48.6), n=218	107 (49.5), n=216
Parity, median (IQR)	2.0 (2–3), n=215	2.0 (2–3), n=220
Postmenopausal, n (%)	186 (92.5), n=201	185 (90.2), n=205
Duration of symptoms in months, median (IQR)	6 (2–24), n=211	6 (3–24), n=216
Vaginal atrophy, n (%)	106 (56.7), n=187	110 (57.3), n=192
Prolapse stage, n (%)
II (moderate)	85 (39.0), n=218	102 (46.2), n=221
≥III (severe)	133 (61.0), n=218	119 (53.9), n=221
PGIS score, n (%)
I (not severe)	13 (6.3), n=205	9 (4.4), n=205
II (mild)	48 (23.4), n=205	50 (24.4), n=205
III (moderate)	99 (48.3), n=205	112 (54.6), n=205
IV (severe)	45 (22.0), n=205	34 (16.6), n=205
PFDI-20 score†, n (%)
POPDI-6 score	29.5 (19.2), n=210	28.7 (15.6), n=208
CRADI-8 score	13.9 (15.1), n=210	12.1 (12.6), n=208
UDI-6 score	26.0 (22.0), n=209	25.2 (20.0), n=208
PFDI-20 total score	69.3 (45.7), n=209	65.9 (37.7), n=208
EQ-5D utility value‡, mean (SD)	0.87 (0.15), n=209	0.85 (0.15), n=206

*Presence of one or more comorbidities: smoking, use of antidepressants, obesity, diabetes mellitus, chronic pulmonary disease.

†PFDI-20: the subscale scores range from 0 to 100 and the total score ranges from 0 to 300. Higher scores indicate more symptom distress.

‡EQ-5D utility values: the Dutch EQ-5D tariffs range from −0.33 to 1.

%, proportion; CRADI-8, Colorectal-Anal Distress Inventory; IQR, interquartile range; n, number of women; PFDI-20, Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory; PGIS, Patient Global Impression of Severity; POPDI-6, Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory; SD, standard deviation; UDI-6, Urinary Distress Inventory.