Prevalence of severe pelvic organ prolapse in relation to job description and socioeconomic status: A multicenter cross-sectional study

The aim of this study was to determine if certain occupations or socioeconomic levels are associated with pelvic organ prolapse. Investigators at six American sites performed pelvic organ prolapse quantification examinations on women presenting for routine gynecologic care. Between September 1999 and March 2002, 1,004 patients were examined. Severe pelvic organ prolapse was defined as the leading edge being 1 cm or more beyond the hymeneal ring. The data was analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, Bonferroni test, multiple logistic regression, and descriptive statistics. The prevalence of severe pelvic organ prolapse in our group was 4.3%. Women who were laborers/factory workers had significantly more severe prolapse than the other job categories (p<0.001). Women with annual income of $10,000 or less had significantly more severe pelvic organ prolapse than other income groups (p<0.001). These differences persisted even when controlling for age, race, number of deliveries, body mass index >30, and smoking status (all p<0.001). Laborers/ factory worker jobs and an annual household income of $10,000 or less are associated with severe pelvic organ prolapse.