[Dyspareunia in women is common, particularly in younger women. Pain history and the women's age provide valuable clues for diagnosis]

Abstract

Very little is known about the causes of dyspareunia. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnoses in a non-patient population of women after a short interview and a careful pelvic examination, and to analyze the predictive value of age and different pain characteristics according to Bayesian analysis and Bayes' Theorem. Sixty-four women with severe and prolonged dyspareunia were recruited from the Swedish national screening program for cervical cancer. It was shown that the diagnoses varied with age, and that age and various pain characteristics were very good predictors of the different diagnoses. The study concludes that diagnosing the most common types of severe dyspareunia is fairly easy and that extensive examinations are not generally required.