I'm in Charge, But Not Always in Control: A Qualitative Exploration of Female's Beliefs and Knowledge About Their Pelvic Pain.

Objectives: Beliefs and knowledge about pain can influence how an individual approaches pain management. At present, there have been no investigations into the beliefs and knowledge that females hold about their pelvic pain; therefore, pain intervention approaches may not be targeted at current patient understandings. Exploring beliefs and knowledge may help inform and subsequently improve pain intervention outcomes for pelvic pain by allowing more tailored content to be delivered. This study aimed to identify beliefs and knowledge that females hold about their pelvic pain.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews (n=12) were conducted. Based on the Common Sense Model, interview questions investigated participants' beliefs and knowledge related to the identity (diagnostic labels), cause, consequence, control, and timeline of their pelvic pain. Transcribed interviews were analysed using an Interpretive Description Framework.
Results: Participants reported holding biopsychosocial understandings of pain; however, many described their own pain experience in a way that was more aligned with the biomedical model of pain, suggesting incongruence in pain understandings. Participants valued their ability to take charge of their pain management, highlighting bodily autonomy and being proactive in pain management approaches. This approach to management did not provide total control over participants' pelvic pain. Pelvic pain was perceived as disruptive of life, both at present and into the future, with predictability of pain varying over time.
Discussion: This study provides insight into the perspectives of females with pelvic pain. Recommendations for clinicians are provided with a focus on delivering targeted education and equipping patients with helpful representations of their pain.
Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest and Sources of Funding: This study has received no financial support. KJC is supported by a Leadership Investigator grant to Professor Lorimer Moseley from the National Health & Medical Research Council of Australia (ID 1178444) and has received payment for presentations given on pelvic health. AKM is supported by a research grant awarded to A/Prof. Mike Armour from the Wilson Foundation. AKM has received speaker fees for lectures on pelvic pain. K.J.C. is supported by a grant awarded from The Hospital Research Fund (Grant No. PG105576). Professional bodies have reimbursed her for travel costs related to presentation of research on pelvic pain at scientific conferences. SMC, JAB and SB have no conflicts of interest or financial support to declare.
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