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Qualitative
Women associated vaginal symptoms with disease and sexual infidelity

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebn.7.1.30

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    Karasz A, Anderson M. The vaginitis monologues: women’s experiences of vaginal complaints in a primary care setting. Soc Sci Med 2003;56:1013–21.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science

    Q How do women interpret vaginal sensations as symptoms and construct these symptoms as problems requiring medical care?

    DESIGN

    Qualitative study.

    SETTING

    A family health centre serving a multi-ethnic, working class population in New York City, USA.

    PARTICIPANTS

    44 women >18 years of age who were diagnosed with vaginitis (ICD-9 code 616.10) in the previous 4 months.

    METHODS

    Women participated in semistructured telephone interviews of 30–45 minutes, during which interviewers took indepth notes. Data collection and analysis were based on an iterative process. Women were asked to generate illness narratives of symptom and treatment experiences. The semistructured component of the interview was based on the Illness Representation Model.

    MAIN FINDINGS

    Most women had some combination of itching, discharge, and odour. Conceptions of [a] normal [vagina]. Women judged normality based on characteristics of vaginal discharge (eg, quantity, …

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    Footnotes

    • For correspondence: Dr A Karasz, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA. akkaraszmontefiore.org

    • Source of funding: no external funding.