Grant: Op. Grant: NWHRI: Innovation Fund - Translational Research

The goal of this study is to improve pain and sexual outcomes for more than 2 million Canadian women, girls, and gender minority individuals who suffer from provoked vestibulodynia (PVD). PVD, a common genitopelvic pain condition, is defined as vulvar pain upon contact lasting 3 or more months. PVD affects up to 12% of women and an undetermined number of girls and gender minority individuals. The psychosocial impact of PVD is significant; individuals affected by PVD report substantial struggles with their psychological, sexual, and relationship wellbeing, and they experience decreases in their overall quality of life. Accessing treatment can be problematic for many PVD patients for several reasons, including long wait times to consult with a health care provider with expertise in PVD, shame related to talking about vulvar pain, geographical location, and high cost. Virtual treatment programs for genitopelvic pain may help people with PVD as they wait for care, in addition to their usual care, or in the absence of care. Recently, and partly due to the pandemic, virtual treatment options have been developed for several pain and sexual health conditions, including PVD, with promising results. PelvicSense™ is a virtual program that offers treatment for individuals with genitopelvic pain. It offers a variety of skills and information through modules on pain science, mindfulness, and pelvic floor exercises, elements that have been found to be effective for PVD. We plan to study the efficacy of the PelvicSense™ program for people with PVD compared with a control group that is waiting for treatment. We hypothesize that participation in the program will result in greater improvements in pain, sexual wellbeing, and other factors (e.g., pain interference) for people with PVD immediately after treatment and at 6-month follow-up compared to the control group. The PelvicSense™ program may offer accessible intervention to individuals with PVD in Canada and beyond.