Interventions for vaginismus (Cochrane Review)

A substantive amendment to this systematic review was last made on 16 January 2001. Cochrane reviews are regularly checked and updated if necessary.

Background: Vaginismus is an involuntary contraction of the vaginal muscles which makes sexual intercourse difficult or impossible. It is one of the more common female psychosexual problems. Various therapeutic strategies for vaginismus, such as sex therapy and desensitization, have been proposed, and uncontrolled case series appear promising..

Objectives: The aim of this review is to determine the clinical effectiveness of treatments for vaginismus and also to examine the role of partner participation in the effectiveness of the treatment.

Search strategy: The Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety & Neurosis Controlled Trials Register (Issue 3, 2000), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2002), MEDLINE (1966 to Nov 2002), EMBASE (1980 to Nov 2002), PsycINFO (1967 to Nov 2002) and CINAHL (1982 to Nov 2002) were searched. The Journal of Sex Research (1974 to 1999), Sexual & Marital Therapy (1986 to 1999), Sexual Dysfunction (1998 to 1999) and the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy (1974 to 1999) were handsearched. Reference lists and conference abstracts were searched. Experts in the field were contacted regarding unpublished material.

Selection criteria: Controlled trials comparing treatments for vaginismus with another treatment, a placebo treatment, treatment as usual or waiting list control.

Data collection and analysis: The reviewers extracted data which were verified with the trial investigator where possible.

Main results: Three potential trials were identified, but data were only available from two of these. One trial comparing two forms of systematic desensitization with hypnotherapy was excluded because it was not randomised. The included trial compared two forms of systematic desensitization and reported no discernible differences between them.

Reviewers' conclusions: In spite of encouraging results reported from uncontrolled case series there is very limited evidence from controlled trials concerning the effectiveness of treatments for vaginismus. Further trials are needed to compare therapies with waiting list control and with other therapies.

Citation: McGuire H, Hawton K. Interventions for vaginismus (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.

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This is an abstract of a regularly updated, systematic review prepared and maintained by the Cochrane Collaboration. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).

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