Improving communication between women with vulvodynia and their romantic partners: insights and recommendations for practitioners

Interactions among female patients with vulvodynia, their romantic partners, and clinicians are key to promoting positive health outcomes. Previous studies have investigated how the content of romantic partners' responses to expressions of pain are related to these outcomes. Yet, the content of patients' conversations and the appraisals of their difficulty remain unknown. This study offers guidance to clinicians counseling patients with vulvodynia by explicating the frequency and difficulty of various salient conversational topics. Thirty-four women with vulvodynia completed a screener survey indicating the frequency and difficulty of conversational topics. Follow-up in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 women. A dominant partner response type was identified for each participant. Topics most often discussed, such as sex, were rated as among the least difficult to discuss. Most participants reported experiencing the facilitative partner response type, which promotes adaptive coping. Determining patients' perceived conversational difficulty and frequency is necessary to provide quality and efficient counseling to women with vulvodynia and their partners. Patients also experience partner response types. Therefore, clinicians must solicit subjective assessments of conversational difficulty when advising patients and their romantic partners.