Grant: Project Grant

Endometriosis affects 10% of women and gender diverse people. Endometriosis is commonly associated with pain with insertion into the vagina, during sexual activity and also during pelvic exams that are a key part of the diagnosis of endometriosis. There is a lack of knowledge about strategies for navigating vaginal insertion pain with sex and with pelvic exams. Moreover, there is a need for standardized tools to assess sexual pain in endometriosis. Furthermore, healthcare providers need more training for assessing sexual pain and performing pelvic exams in individuals with endometriosis. Overall, these gaps lead to a delay in diagnosis and a delay in appropriate care for people with this condition. Our team proposes to study the perspectives of people with endometriosis regarding how they navigate pain during sexual activity and during pelvic exams. We will also validate a new questionnaire for sexual pain in endometriosis, and a new tool that allows individuals to do a pelvic self-examination. As well, we will evaluate new educational resources about sexual pain and the pelvic exam for healthcare students in training, which are patient-centred and trauma-informed. Throughout this work, the team will assess the influence of sex and gender of participants. This research will increase knowledge about pain during sexual activity and during the pelvic exam, including how patients can navigate this pain and how clinicians can improve how they perform their assessment. The new questionnaire and self-examination tool will enable future research to better treat pain with sexual activity in endometriosis.