Table 1.

Efficacy of local estrogen therapy (vaginal estrogen versus placebo or no treatment) on pelvic floor disorders: quality of studies and profile of evidence

PFD	Quality of studiesa	Parameters	Outcomes	Qualityof evidenceb
VA	Fair	Subj. +obj.	Improved	Moderate
OAB	Fair	Subjective	Improved	Low
SUI	Fair	Subjective	Improved	Low + moderate
UI	Fair	Objective	Improved	Low-moderate
POP	Poor	Subjective	Unclear	Low

^aQuality of studies: good-fair-poor (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). Owens DK et al. (2010) AHRQ series paper 5: grading the strength of a body of evidence when comparing medical interventions–Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the effective health-care program. J Clin Epidemiol. 63: 513–23

^bGrade of evidence: high-moderate-poor (Grades for Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system). Atkins D et al. (2004) Systems for grading the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations I: critical appraisal of existing approaches. The GRADE Working Group. BMC Health Serv Res. 4: 38

Abbreviations

PFD pelvic floor disorders, VA vaginal atrophy, Subj. + obj. subjective + objective, UI urinary incontinence, OAB symptoms overactive bladder symptoms, SUI stress urinary incontinence, POP pelvic organ prolapse