Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text.A Central Sensitization Inventory cutoff of 40 had good sensitivity and specificity for identifying ≥3 central sensitivity syndromes and other pelvic pain-related comorbidities in endometriosis.
A desire to increase rates of breast feeding initiation and absence of standardized criteria for the diagnosis of ankyloglossia have resulted in runaway rates of frenotomy for newborn infants in some parts of Canada.
Introduction Dyspareunia has been called the neglected symptom of endometriosis and is underexplored in clinical and research contexts. Understanding the physical experience and patient-important aspects of endometriosis-associated sexual pain can help advance valid measurement of this symptom. Aims The goal of this research was to characterize the physical experience of endometriosis-associated dyspareunia in the words of people affected by this condition. Methods This was a qualitative descriptive study that included participants with current or previous endometriosis-associated dyspareunia recruited from a data registry. Data collection involved semistructured interviews that began with an open-ended question about dyspareunia followed by prompts related to the nature of sexual pain. Main Outcome Measures Interviews transcripts were subjected to qualitative content analysis using a priori (pain site, onset, character, radiation, associations, time course, and exacerbating/relieving factors) and emergent themes. Results A total of 17 participants completed interviews. Mean participant age was 33.3 years and most were identified as white, college-educated, heterosexual, and partnered. Location, onset, and character were important; interrelated features of endometriosis-associated dyspareunia were: (i) introital pain began with initial penetration and had pulling, burning, and stinging qualities and (ii) pelvic pain was experienced with deep penetration or in certain positions and was described as sharp, stabbing, and cramping. Dyspareunia ranged from mild to severe, had a marked psychosocial impact for some participants, and was managed using a variety of treatments and strategies. Conclusion The endometriosis-associated dyspareunia experienced by participants was heterogenous in presentation, severity, and impact. Our findings have implications for the development of valid patient-reported outcome measures of this symptom.
Introduction: Deep dyspareunia is a cardinal symptom of endometriosis, and as many as 40% of people with this condition experience comorbid superficial dyspareunia. Aim: To evaluate the relationship between sexual pain and infertility concerns among women with endometriosis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted at a university-based tertiary center for endometriosis. 300 reproductive-aged participants in the prospective Endometriosis Pelvic Pain Interdisciplinary Cohort (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02911090) with histologically confirmed endometriosis were included (2013e2017). Main Outcome Measure: The total score on the infertility concerns module of the Endometriosis Health Profile-30 categorized into 5 groups (0, 1e4, 5e8, 9e12, 13e16). Results: The odds of infertility concerns did not increase with severity of deep dyspareunia (odds ratio ¼ 1.02, 95% CI: 0.95e1.09, P ¼ .58). However, the odds of infertility concerns increased with severity of superficial dyspareunia (odds ratio ¼ 1.09, 95% CI: 1.02e1.16, P ¼ .011); this relationship persisted after adjusting for endometriosis-specific factors, infertility risk factors, reproductive history, and demographic characteristics (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] ¼ 1.14, 95% CI: 1.06e1.24, P < .001). Other factors in the model independently associated with increased infertility concerns were previous difficulty conceiving (AOR ¼ 2.09, 95% CI 1.04e4.19, P ¼ .038), currently trying to conceive (AOR ¼ 5.23, 95% CI 2.77e9.98, P < .001), nulliparity (AOR ¼ 3.21, 95% CI 1.63e6.41, P < .001), and younger age (AOR ¼ 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89e0.98, P ¼ .005). Conclusion: Severity of superficial dyspareunia, but not deep dyspareunia, was associated with increased odds of infertility concerns among women with endometriosis. Strengths of the study included the use of a validated measure of infertility concerns and disaggregation of sexual pain into deep and superficial dyspareunia. Limitations included the setting of a tertiary center for pelvic pain, which affects generalizability to fertility clinic and primary care settings. Women experiencing introital dyspareunia, who can have difficulties with achieving penetrative intercourse, may be concerned about their future fertility and should be counselled appropriately.
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