Table 1.
Background characteristics of the participating women grouped by normal vs high level of depressive symptom scores (on the Major Depression Inventory; MDI) and normal vs high level of perceived stress scores (on the Perceives Stress Scale; PSS) respectively.
| Symptoms of stress | Symptoms of depression | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background and health variables | Low stress PSS < 17 (n=118) |
High stress PSS ≥ 17 (n=42) |
p-value | No depressive symptoms MDI ≤18 (n=143) |
Depressive symptoms MDI >18 (n=17) |
p-value | |
| Age in years; median (range) | 23 (19-40) | 23 (18-40) | 0.654 1 | 23 (18; 40) | 23 (21; 40) | 0.592 1 | |
| Higher education (university level), n(%) vs Lower | 107 (90.7) | 38 (90.5) | 1.000 2 | 129 (90.2) | 16 (94.1) | 1.000 2 | |
| BMI (kg/m2; median (range)) | 21.8 (18-37) | 22.6 (18-29) | 0.137 1 | 22 (18; 37) | 18 (23; 28) | 0.060 1 | |
|
Symptoms of bacterial vaginosis (BV) 4, n (%)
One symptom |
7 (5.9) |
7 (16.7) |
0.029* 2 |
11 (7.7) |
3 (17.6) |
0.007*2 |
|
| Two symptoms | 1 (0.8) | 2 (4.8) | 1 (0.7) | 2 (11.8) | |||
| Use of antidepressants (SSRIs) | 3 (2.5) | 1 (2.4) | 0.954 | 4 (2.8) | 0 (0) | 0.485 | |
| Sex hormones and vaginal microbiota dynamics (VCD) | |||||||
|
Hormonal contraceptives
No Combined Oral contraceptives Hormonal Intrauterine Device |
42 (35.6) 34 (28.8) 42 (35.6) |
12 (28.6) 18 (42.9) 12 (28.6) |
0.248 |
48 (33.6) 44 (30.8) 51 (35.7) |
6 (35.3) 8 (47.1) 3 (17.6) |
0.257 |
|
| Average Estradiol, median5 | .15 (0-1) | .28 (0-1) | 0.1611 | .35 (0.1-0.8) | .28 (0.2-0.6) | 0.4451 | |
| Average Progesterone, median | 12.1 (0.8-28.8) | 11.9 (1.3-23.1) | 0.7181 | 12.0 (0.8-28.8) | 13.0 (1.4-28.6) | 0.3141 | |
| Average Progesterone to Estradiol ratio, median5 | 30.8 (1.9-83.1) | 30.6 (2.3-79.2) | 0.5291 | 30.3 (2.0-83.1) | 45.7 (7.4-79.2) | 0.1121 | |
|
Vaginal community dynamics (VCD)
Constant eubiotic Menses dysbiotic Unstable Constant dysbiotic |
37 (31.9) 10 (8.6) 23 (19.8) 46 (39.7) |
16 (39.0) 5 (12.2) 11 (26.8) 9 (22.0) |
0.2353 | 46 (32.9) 13 (9.3) 29 (20.7) 52 (37.1) |
7 (41.2) 2 (11.8) 5 (29.4) 3 (17.6) |
0.4623 | |
| Health behaviors | |||||||
|
Alcohol, n(%)
≥ 8 drinks per week |
36 (30.5) | 8 (19) | 0.153 3 | 42 (29.4) | 2 (11.8) | 0.157 2 | |
| Smoking; yes, n(%) | 35 (29.7) | 11 (26.2) | 0.6703 | 43 (30.1) | 3 (17.6) | 0.399 2 | |
|
Exercise, n (%)
Hard exercises several times/week |
14 (11.9) |
2 (4.8) |
0.2352 |
14 (9.8) |
2 (11.8) |
0.1822 |
|
|
Medium exercise ≥ 4 hours/week
No exercise |
103 (87.3) 1 (0.8) |
39 (92.9) 1 (2.4) |
128 (89.5) 1 (0.7) |
14 (82.4) 1 (5.9) |
|||
| Days with intercourse | 4 (0-20) | 2 (0-16) | 0.021* 6 | 3.5 (0-20) | 3 (0-12) | 0.4036 | |
| Dietary habits | |||||||
|
Fibers, n (%)
Daily Less often |
104 (90.4) 11 (9.6) |
36 (87.8) 5 (12.2) |
0.7653 | 127 (91.4) 12 (8.6) |
13 (76.5) 4 (23.5) |
0.077 3 | |
|
Sugar intake, n (%)
Daily Weekly Seldom/never |
9 (7.6) 90 (76.3) 19 (16.1) |
11 (26.2) 26 (61.9) 5 (11.9) |
0.008*3 | 25 (10.5) 108 (75.5) 20 (14.0) |
5 (29.4) 8 (47.1) 4 (23.5) |
0.031*3 | |
| Bowel/colonic transit time7,8, n (%) | |||||||
| Normal colonic transit (BSS 3-4) | 52 (44.1) | 10 (23.8) | Reference | 55 (38.5) | 7 (41.2) | Reference | |
| Slow colonic transit (BSS 1-2) | 19 (16.1) | 6 (14.3) | 0.394 | 23 (16.1) | 2 (11.8) | 0.650 | |
| Fast colonic transit (BSS 5-7) | 33 (28.1) | 13 (31.0) | 0.132 | 43 (30.1) | 3 (17.6) | 0.403 | |
| Various transit both fast and slow | 14 (11.9) | 13 (31.0) | 0.002* | 22 (15.4) | 5 (29.4) | 0.363 | |
1Mann-whitney U test.
2Fisher’s Exact test.
3Chi square test.
4BV symptoms were reports of “Unpleasant vaginal odor” and “vaginal discharge”.
5For the estradiol analyses, women using oral contraceptives and women suing IUS with no menstrual cycle were excluded.
6Student’s t-test.
7Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS).
8Analyzed with binary logistic regression with normal colonic transit as the Reference.
*P<0.05