Symptom Characteristics and Medical History of an Online Sample of Women Who Experience Symptoms of Persistent Genital Arousal

ABSTRACT

Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD; Leiblum & Nathan, 2001) is characterized by distressing symptoms suggestive of genital arousal in the absence of subjective feelings of arousal. Although awareness of PGAD is growing, there continues to be a lack of systematic research on it. This study characterized an online sample of women with symptoms of persistent genital arousal (PGA) in terms of their symptom characteristics, medical comorbidities, symptom triggers, management strategies, and predictors of distress. Women reported diverse PGA symptoms, with almost half reporting painful symptoms, and most reported very high distress and negative emotions. Further research and awareness of PGA are needed to provide effective care for this population.

Notes

1 Of note, five women (4.3%) did not endorse any of the Leiblum and Nathan (2001) PGAD criteria, however, they did report between two and four different descriptions of their PGA symptoms, and between three and 17 physical symptoms of PGA (discussed in further detail in the following paragraph of the symptom characteristics subsection).

2 There was one woman who did not endorse any of the physical symptoms of PGA listed in Table 5, however, she endorsed 12 of the symptom descriptions presented in Table 4.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Principal's Development Fund/Senate Advisory Research Council, Queen's University (grant no. 380653). This grant was awarded to C. Pukall, A. Gordon, L. Pink, K. Bouchard, and R. Jackowich to investigate psychosocial functioning in women with persistent genital arousal disorder.