Volume 190 - Issue 1
Prevalence and correlates of three types of pelvic pain in a nationally representative sample of Australian women
Authors: Marian K Pitts, Jason A Ferris, Anthony M Smith, Julia M Shelley and Juliet Richters
Med J Aust 2009; 190 (1): 47-48. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02270.x
Published online: 5 January 2009
Published online: 5 January 2009
In reply: We are pleased to see our article about chronic pelvic pain in Australian women has provoked interest.1 Black’s suggestion that virtually every normal physiological event that occurs within a woman’s pelvis is associated with pain is surprising, and not supported by our evidence. Of the women in our sample, 23% were totally pain free, and most of the chronic pelvic pain reported was mild. A parallel study showed that men also suffered chronic pelvic pain — a smaller proportion than women, but still significant.2 We are not medicalising normal events; rather, we are alerting general practitioners to the normal range of pelvic pain experience to help them assess its clinical significance. A GP who says to a female patient “it’s normal, love, just grin and bear it” denies the psychosocial complexity of her experience.
Vivian and Barnard suggest we might have differentiated between two major types of pain, nociceptive and neuropathic. It would not be practical to collect this information in a broad survey on sexual and reproductive health. Certainly, a study of the prevalence of neuropathic pain in the Australian population that mirrors recent studies overseas would be informative. However, our study concerned pelvic pain only. The pelvis is not a common site for neuropathic pain.3
References
- Pitts MK, Ferris JA, Smith AMA, et al. Prevalence and correlates of three types of pelvic pain in a nationally representative sample of Australian women. Med J Aust 2008; 189: 138-143.
- Pitts MK, Ferris JA, Smith AMA, et al. Prevalence and correlates of three types of pelvic pain in a nationally representative sample of Australian men. J Sex Med 2008; 5: 1223-1229. 0_i1091831
- Bennett MI, Attal N, Backonja MM, et al. Using screening tools to identify neuropathic pain. Pain 2007; 127: 199-203. 0_i1091833