331 Does genital sexual pain matter? An explorative study on reproductive-age women

Abstract

Genital Sexual Pain (GSP) is a common symptom in reproductive-age women: about 40% of women 20-40 y.o. suffer from pain during sexual activity. Because of the lack of awareness, many women could continue to go on with this symptom without asking help to professionals, increasing the risk of pain chronicization and sexuality impairment. The aim of the present study was to investigate how many reproductive-age women in the general population experience GSP, the characteristics of such pain (duration, location, etiology), how they face the symptom, and their sexual functioning. 653 women aged between 18 and 40 (mean age 25.7±4.37) were recruited with snowball method. Participants completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), the Female Sexual Functioning Index (FSFI), the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS). 190 women (29.6%) reported GSP in the last 6 months (mean duration of the symptom 16.87±33.75). Pain was located in: vaginal introitus and vestibule (52.1%), lower abdomen/pelvis (44.7%), labia minora/majora (25.3%), clitoris (8.4%), and perineum/anus (5.3%). Most women (75.3%) did not know the cause of the pain, and a quarter of them (24.7%) reported a specific diagnosis (vulvodynia, endometriosis, cystitis, vulvovaginal infections, Bartholin cyst). 58 out of 190 (30.5%) reported GSP as a “sexual problem”. Although 69 (36.31%) and 50 (26.31%) reached clinical scores on FSFI and FSDS, respectively, only13 (7%) were under psychosexual therapy for GSP.