{
    "abstract": "Localized provoked vulvodynia is a common sexual health condition for which there is a lack of consensus on effective management, even though it can have a significant negative impact on psychological wellbeing, sexual functioning, and quality of life for women and their partners.\nTo map the research landscape related to the effectiveness/efficacy of psychological treatments for localized provoked vulvodynia, identify gaps, and make recommendations for future research.\nWe used Arksey and O'Malley's approach to conducting a scoping review to identify, organize, and summarize research published between 2010 and 2023 that investigated the efficacy or effectiveness of interventions in the management of localized provoked vulvodynia. Inclusion and exclusion criteria and the search strategy were developed by subject experts in collaboration with a health sciences librarian. A PubMed search used controlled vocabulary and keyword terms relating to vulvodynia, which were then translated into other databases. Studies not published in English or French were excluded. We did not consider other subsets of vulvodynia.Articles were uploaded to Covidence, duplicates removed, and titles and abstracts screened. The remaining articles were subject to a 2-person, independent full-text review followed by a hand search of eligible articles. All intervention studies were included regardless of the study design. Study details were reported narratively and analyzed.\nOf the 88 included articles published between January 2010 and March 2023, 15 reported on the efficacy/effectiveness of psychological treatments for localized provoked vulvodynia, including group educational seminars, cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and somatocognitive therapy.\nCognitive behavioral therapy was the most common form of psychological treatment studied (n\u2009=\u20097) with interventions for both individuals and couples. Education about the condition and the therapeutic process was a component of many interventions. Psychological therapies may be of some benefit, but only 1 RCT evaluating the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy appeared adequately powered to demonstrate improvement in dyspareunia. Studies sampled homogenous patient populations, primarily consisting of White, urban-dwelling, educated, partnered, heterosexual cis-women.\nEvidence of efficacy/effectiveness, drawn mainly from small studies, is promising and highlights opportunities for more robust studies with heterogeneous populations, more research on the role of education in treatment success, and greater attention to assessing patient-driven outcomes in partnered and unpartnered women.",
    "authors": [
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Harry Medovy House, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 0Z2, Canada.",
            "firstname": "Gabrielle S",
            "initials": "GS",
            "lastname": "Logan"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Division of Population Health and Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, A1B 3V6, Canada.",
            "firstname": "Diana L",
            "initials": "DL",
            "lastname": "Gustafson"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Health Sciences Library, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, A1B 3V6, Canada.",
            "firstname": "Michelle",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Swab"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, United States.",
            "firstname": "Alex",
            "initials": "A",
            "lastname": "Rains"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Moncton, NB, E1C 4B7, Canada.",
            "firstname": "Michelle E",
            "initials": "ME",
            "lastname": "Miller"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, A1B 3V6, Canada.",
            "firstname": "Victoria A",
            "initials": "VA",
            "lastname": "Jackman"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, A1B 3V6, Canada.",
            "firstname": "Krisztina",
            "initials": "K",
            "lastname": "Bajzak"
        }
    ],
    "conclusions": "Evidence of efficacy/effectiveness, drawn mainly from small studies, is promising and highlights opportunities for more robust studies with heterogeneous populations, more research on the role of education in treatment success, and greater attention to assessing patient-driven outcomes in partnered and unpartnered women.",
    "copyrights": "\u00a9 The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Sexual Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.",
    "doi": "10.1093/jsxmed/qdae163",
    "journal": "The journal of sexual medicine",
    "keywords": [
        "cognitive behavioral therapy",
        "dyspareunia",
        "group education seminars",
        "mindfulness",
        "somatocognitive therapy",
        "vestibulodynia",
        "vulvodynia"
    ],
    "methods": null,
    "publication_date": "2024-11-26",
    "pubmed_id": "39586778",
    "results": "Cognitive behavioral therapy was the most common form of psychological treatment studied (n\u2009=\u20097) with interventions for both individuals and couples. Education about the condition and the therapeutic process was a component of many interventions. Psychological therapies may be of some benefit, but only 1 RCT evaluating the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy appeared adequately powered to demonstrate improvement in dyspareunia. Studies sampled homogenous patient populations, primarily consisting of White, urban-dwelling, educated, partnered, heterosexual cis-women.",
    "title": "Psychological modalities for the treatment of localized provoked vulvodynia: a scoping review of literature from 2010 to 2023.",
    "xml": "<Element 'PubmedArticle' at 0x788505975350>"
}