October 1, 2023 (Medscape); – Dyspareunia (painful intercourse) is an important indicator of urinary tract infection and occurs in 83% of cases. Researchers found that this symptom was particularly accurate in identifying urinary tract infections in non-menopausal women.
Important data:
- Researchers at Florida Atlantic University say dyspareunia is a common symptom of urinary tract infections, especially in premenopausal women, but is rarely asked about during patient evaluation.
- In 2010, researchers found that among 3,000 Latino patients in South Florida aged 17 to 72, 80 percent of those with UTIs reported pain during sex.
- They have since studied another 2,500 patients in the same population.
- Among 5,500 patients, 83% of those with UTI experienced dyspareunia.
- 80% of women of childbearing age with dyspareunia have an undiagnosed urinary tract infection.
- During the perimenopausal and postmenopausal years, dyspareunia is more associated with genitourinary syndromes than with urinary tract infections.
- 94% of women with urinary tract infection-related dyspareunia respond positively to antibiotics.
in practice:
“We found that this symptom is extremely important as part of urinary tract infection symptoms and often occurs together with the classic symptoms,” the researchers report. “Why has something so clear and so frequent been never described? The answer is Simple: Doctors and patients don’t talk about sex, even though dyspareunia is more of a clinical symptom than a sexual symptom. Medical schools and residency programs in various fields, especially obstetrics and gynecology, urology, and psychiatry, have been Neglecting to train and educate doctors in this important aspect of human health. In summary, this is (evidence) how medicine is sometimes influenced by religious, cultural and social norms that are far removed from science.