Using language to identify a bladder pain component in women with Dysmenorrhoea-Related Pelvic Pain: A cross-sectional study

Eleanor Schofield; Roland Sussex; Tania Crotti; Susan Evans

doi:10.1111/ajo.13833

Using language to identify a bladder pain component in women with Dysmenorrhoea-Related Pelvic Pain: A cross-sectional study

Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2024 May 27. doi: 10.1111/ajo.13833. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Eleanor Schofield¹, Roland Sussex², Tania Crotti¹, Susan Evans³

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
² Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation, School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
³ Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

PMID: 38803121
DOI: 10.1111/ajo.13833

Abstract

Background: Dysmenorrhoea-Related Pelvic Pain (DRPP) is a common condition, which may or may not include bladder-related symptoms. Primary health care practitioners (PHCP) rely heavily on language for diagnosis of DRPP-related conditions. However, there are no established pain descriptors to assist PHCP to determine whether an individual's DRPP may include a bladder component.

Aims: To identify differences in the use of pain descriptors in women with DRPP with and without a co-existing bladder pain component, through an exploratory study of the language of pelvic pain in women.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional online survey of Australian and New Zealand women (n = 750, ages 18-49) who have self-identified pelvic pain. Free text and predetermined pain descriptors used by women with a self-perceived bladder pain component (DRPPB+, n = 468) were compared to those without bladder pain (DRPPB-, n = 282). Statistical analysis included Pearson χ², logistic regression and analysis of variance tests using StataCorp Stata Statistical Software combined with qualitative data from AntConc concordance software.

Results: Within free-form text, bloating (P = 0.014) and pressure (P = 0.031) were used more commonly to describe dysmenorrhoea in women with DRPPB+, while the word excruciating (P < 0.001) was more commonly used by women with DRPPB-. From a pre-determined list of descriptors, pounding (P < 0.001), tingling (P < 0.001), stabbing (P = 0.010), burning (P = 0.002) and cramping (P = 0.021) were more commonly used by women with DRPPB+, than women with DRPPB-.

Conclusions: Systematic patterns of word use should encourage practitioners to further enquire about bladder symptoms that may co-exist with dysmenorrhoea. Knowledge of these words may be useful in targeting diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

Keywords: bladder; dysmenorrhoea; language; pain; pelvic.

© 2024 The Author(s). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.