The biopsychosocial nature of chronic pelvic floor pain: a narrative review

Abstract

In 2020 the International Association for the Study of Pain reconceptualized chronic pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated or similar to actual or potential tissue damage, adding greater complexity and certain nuances to the previous definitions, with the aim that this modification will lead to a better assessment and diagnosis and treatment of people suffering from CD. From this new definition, we must emphasize that pain is not only caused by a nociceptive (sensory) experience, but also encompasses the emotional sphere. In this sense, Chronic Pelvic Floor Pain (hereafter referred to as CPP) represents a challenge for healthcare professionals in terms of diagnosis and therapeutic management. Pelvic floor pathologies, of complex etiopathogenesis, have been frequently associated with psychopathological phenomena in the onset, maintenance and exacerbation of symptoms in addition to the personal, social and family repercussions that can determine a significant deterioration in the quality of life of the sufferer. A non-systematic narrative review has been performed in Pubmed, Scholar Google and manual search from 2012 to 2022. The experience of pelvic floor pain is analyzed from the psychological dimension (adverse childhood experiences, abuse and violence; stress and anxiety, catastrophizing and depression; kinesophobia, self-esteem and personality; sexual functioning) and the sociocultural dimension (stigma, gender bias, social support, labor and economic limitations). Positive emotional