Depressive symptoms among women with vulvar dysesthesia

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether vulvar dysesthesia is associated with elevated depressive symptoms. STUDY DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional case-control study of women who underwent treatment of vulvar dysesthesia (n = 32) or who were seen for a routine gynecologic examination (n = 32). Subjects completed measures of depressive symptoms and pain and a sexual and medical history. Multivariate and univariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Analyses that were adjusted for age, education, and medical conditions indicated that vulvar dysesthesia was associated positively with depressive symptoms (P = .002). However, this was attributable to the somatic (P = .002) rather than cognitive-affective symptoms (P = .16) of depression, partially related to the endorsement of sexual disinterest, and mediated by pain reports. CONCLUSION: Vulvar dysesthesia is associated with elevated depressive symptom severity, although not to the extent that indicates probable depressive disorder. In this condition, depressive symptoms are likely to be a measurement artifact, rather than a depressive process. Certain depressive symptoms (eg, sexual disinterest) directly inflate depression estimates in this patient group.