Stirling-Led Consensus Study Sets Agenda to Improve Vulvodynia Care
The publication moves the field toward coordinated services by translating agreed priorities into a co-designed care pathway.
Overview
- The first participatory, consensus-driven prioritization for vulvodynia has been published in Women's Health, funded by Wellbeing of Women and the British Society for the Study of Vulval Disease.
- Patients, clinicians and researchers ranked a clear, person-centered care pathway and improved clinician education as the top needs.
- Participants called for multidisciplinary pain teams spanning GPs, gynecologists, physiotherapists, nurses, sexual-health specialists and mental-health support.
- Priorities also include accessible patient information, standardized outcome measures in research, and work on prevention.
- Lead author Athina Zoi Lountzi has begun a Scottish Graduate School of Social Science-funded PhD to co-design the pathway with patients, clinicians, commissioners and third-sector partners.