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Research
Highlights
Making Pap smears easier: how a simple 5-night regimen of vaginal oestrogen can improve the quality of postmenopausal Pap tests
Internet dating – increasingly mainstream!
The Sydney Centre for Reproductive Health Research ran a groundbreaking survey for women logging onto the RSVP internet-based dating website in January 2009. The survey took about 20 minutes to complete and was designed to find out about what women who are potentially embarking on new relationships know about sexually transmissible infections such as Chlamydia.
Within a matter of hours we received almost 400 completed responses and by the end of the month we received a very exciting 1888 surveys. The age range of women completing the survey was from 18 years to over 70 years and we found that women aged 40 years and above were as likely to meet new partners via the internet as younger women using this dating service. Preliminary results from the survey were reported at the Australasian Sexual Health Conference in September 2009 and we will be publishing further results over the coming year – watch this space!!
A potential new contraceptive option for women - a vaginal ring that lasts a whole year!
We have recently been part of a large multi-centre study run by the Population Council, a non-profit organisation in New York, investigating a long-acting low-dose contraceptive vaginal ring which releases ethinyl estradiol as well as a new progestogen called Nesterone. The flexible polyurethane ring contains enough hormones for 12 months and is placed in the vagina for 3 weeks, removed for one week and then replaced to continue the cycles for a year. The 70 women who entered the study at our centre were very enthusiastic about a device which required minimal action on the users' part but was also very effective in preventing pregnancy. The first marketing application will be made in the USA at the beginning of 2011 and hopefully it will also become available for Australian women - we will keep you informed!
