History of physical and sexual abuse in women with chronic pelvic pain

The history of physical and sexual abuse in childhood and adulthood was assessed in 31 women with chronic pelvic pain, 142 women with chronic pain in other locations, and 32 controls. Thirty-nine percent of patients with chronic pelvic pain had been physically abused in childhood. This percentage wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inObstetrics and gynecology (New York. 1953) Vol. 76; no. 1; p. 92
Main Authors Rapkin, A J, Kames, L D, Darke, L L, Stampler, F M, Naliboff, B D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.07.1990
Subjects
Adult
Child
Child Abuse - epidemiology
Child Abuse, Sexual
Chronic Disease
Endometriosis - epidemiology
Female
Humans
Pain - etiology
Pelvis
Prevalence
Sex Offenses
Spouse Abuse - epidemiology
Tissue Adhesions - epidemiology
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Summary:The history of physical and sexual abuse in childhood and adulthood was assessed in 31 women with chronic pelvic pain, 142 women with chronic pain in other locations, and 32 controls. Thirty-nine percent of patients with chronic pelvic pain had been physically abused in childhood. This percentage was significantly greater than that observed in other chronic-pain patients (18.4%) or controls (9.4%), though the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse did not differ among the groups (19.4, 16.3, and 12.5%, respectively). Abuse in adulthood was less common and was not significantly more likely to have occurred in patients with chronic pelvic pain than in other chronic-pain patients or controls. These data suggest that pelvic pain is unlikely to be specifically and psychodynamically related to sexual abuse but that the pernicious nature of abuse, whether physical or sexual, may promote the chronicity of painful conditions.
ISSN:0029-7844