High prevalence of chronic pelvic pain in women in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil and direct association with abdominal surgery

INTRODUCTION: Chronic pelvic pain is a disease that directly affects the social and professional lives of women. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of this clinical condition and to identify independent factors associated with it in women living in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. METHODS: A one-year cross-sectional study was conducted in a population sample of 1,278 women over the age of 14 years. The target population was predominantly composed of women who are treated by the public health system. The questionnaire was administered by interviewers who were not linked to the city health care programs. The prevalence of the morbidity was estimated. First, we identified the significant variables associated with pelvic pain (p<0.10) and then we attributed values of 0 or 1 to the absence or presence of these variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify and estimate the simultaneous impact of the independent variables. The results were expressed by odds ratio and their 95% confidence interval with p<0.05. RESULTS: The disease was found in 11.5% (147/1,278) of the sample. The independent predictors were dyspareunia, previous abdominal surgery, depression, dysmenorrhea, anxiety, current sexual activity, low back pain, constipation, urinary symptoms, and low educational level. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of chronic pelvic pain in Ribeirão Preto is high and is associated with conditions that can usually be prevented, controlled, or resolved by improvement of public health policies and public education.