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Depressive symptoms among women with vulvar dysesthesia
James E Aikens1, Barbara D Reed, Daniel W Gorenflo
1Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to determine whether vulvar dysesthesia is associated with elevated depressive symptoms.
Study Design:
This was a cross-sectional case-control study of women who underwent treatment of vulvar dysesthesia (n=32) or who were seen for a routine gynecologic examination (n=32). Subjects completed measures of depressive symptoms and pain and a sexual and medical history. Multivariate and univariate analyses were conducted.
Results:
Analyses that were adjusted for age, education, and medical conditions indicated that vulvar dysesthesia was associated positively with depressive symptoms (P=.002). However, this was attributable to the somatic (P=.002) rather than cognitive-affective symptoms (P=.16) of depression, partially related to the endorsement of sexual disinterest, and mediated by pain reports.
Conclusion:
Vulvar dysesthesia is associated with elevated depressive symptom severity, although not to the extent that indicates probable depressive disorder. In this condition, depressive symptoms are likely to be a measurement artifact, rather than a depressive process. Certain depressive symptoms (eg, sexual disinterest) directly inflate depression estimates in this patient group.