Childhood sexual and physical abuse. Incidence in patients with vulvodynia.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the incidence of sexual and/or physical abuse in women with vulvodynia (chronic, burning vulvar pain in the absence of clear medical findings) as compared to women with chronic vulvar symptoms due to specific, objective vulvar disease and with women from a general dermatology practice.

STUDY DESIGN

An invitation to participate in this questionnaire study was sent to 300 women over 18 years of age from a vulvo-vaginal clinic and 280 women from a general dermatology practice. These questionnaires asked for basic demographic information as well as information on childhood sexual experiences and physical abuse.

RESULTS

Questionnaires from 89 patients with vulvodynia, 65 patients with chronic vulvar symptoms due to specific, objective vulvar disease and 166 patients from a general dermatology practice were examined. There were no differences as to the incidence of childhood sexual or physical abuse between patients with vulvodynia and either those with general dermatology complaints or those with chronic vulvar symptoms due to objective disease.

CONCLUSION

There is no evidence from these data that women with vulvodynia experience a higher incidence of sexual or physical abuse during childhood as compared to women in a general dermatology office or women with chronic vulvar symptoms from specific, observable pathology.