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Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions

Vulvodynia, an idiopathic chronic vulvar pain, is a prevalent genital pain condition that results in significant impairment to sexual, relational, and psychological functioning of affected women and their romantic partners. Despite its high prevalence, there remain gaps in knowledge and health care...

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Autores principales: Corsini-Munt, Serena, Rancourt, Kate M, Dubé, Justin P, Rossi, Meghan A, Rosen, Natalie O
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5640408/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29070953
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S126259
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author Corsini-Munt, Serena
Rancourt, Kate M
Dubé, Justin P
Rossi, Meghan A
Rosen, Natalie O
author_facet Corsini-Munt, Serena
Rancourt, Kate M
Dubé, Justin P
Rossi, Meghan A
Rosen, Natalie O
author_sort Corsini-Munt, Serena
collection PubMed
description Vulvodynia, an idiopathic chronic vulvar pain, is a prevalent genital pain condition that results in significant impairment to sexual, relational, and psychological functioning of affected women and their romantic partners. Despite its high prevalence, there remain gaps in knowledge and health care access for women coping with vulvodynia, given its varied clinical presentation and no widely accepted treatment protocol. The past several decades have seen important advancements in understanding vulvodynia and developing effective treatments; however, progress has been impeded due to clinical and methodological challenges in conducting research with this vulnerable population. This review presents a brief overview of vulvodynia correlates, consequences, etiology, and treatment, and then turns its attention to considering the clinical and methodological challenges that hinder vulvodynia research. Identifying these barriers alongside potential mitigating solutions is essential to developing empirically supported treatments for all women affected by vulvodynia, across all age and minority groups. Potential solutions will require researchers to broaden eligibility criteria, examine subgroups of women, and expand definitions of treatment outcomes, and may be best facilitated by more active collaboration among research groups and across relevant disciplines. Engagement in these solutions may contribute to more representative findings and the development and dissemination of empirically based treatment options for this complex pain condition.
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spelling pubmed-56404082017-10-25 Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions Corsini-Munt, Serena Rancourt, Kate M Dubé, Justin P Rossi, Meghan A Rosen, Natalie O J Pain Res Review Vulvodynia, an idiopathic chronic vulvar pain, is a prevalent genital pain condition that results in significant impairment to sexual, relational, and psychological functioning of affected women and their romantic partners. Despite its high prevalence, there remain gaps in knowledge and health care access for women coping with vulvodynia, given its varied clinical presentation and no widely accepted treatment protocol. The past several decades have seen important advancements in understanding vulvodynia and developing effective treatments; however, progress has been impeded due to clinical and methodological challenges in conducting research with this vulnerable population. This review presents a brief overview of vulvodynia correlates, consequences, etiology, and treatment, and then turns its attention to considering the clinical and methodological challenges that hinder vulvodynia research. Identifying these barriers alongside potential mitigating solutions is essential to developing empirically supported treatments for all women affected by vulvodynia, across all age and minority groups. Potential solutions will require researchers to broaden eligibility criteria, examine subgroups of women, and expand definitions of treatment outcomes, and may be best facilitated by more active collaboration among research groups and across relevant disciplines. Engagement in these solutions may contribute to more representative findings and the development and dissemination of empirically based treatment options for this complex pain condition. Dove Medical Press 2017-10-09 /pmc/articles/PMC5640408/ /pubmed/29070953 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S126259 Text en © 2017 Corsini-Munt et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.
spellingShingle Review
Corsini-Munt, Serena
Rancourt, Kate M
Dubé, Justin P
Rossi, Meghan A
Rosen, Natalie O
Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions
title Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions
title_full Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions
title_fullStr Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions
title_full_unstemmed Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions
title_short Vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions
title_sort vulvodynia: a consideration of clinical and methodological research challenges and recommended solutions
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5640408/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29070953
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S126259
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