{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T14:46:40Z","timestamp":1787496400261,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,25]],"date-time":"2025-05-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748131200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009633","name":"Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R21HD072326"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21HD072326"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009633","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009633","name":"Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01HD086742"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01HD086742"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009633","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,29]]},"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Background<\/jats:title>\n Despite the fact that painful intercourse is common among reproductive-aged females, little research has evaluated how people manage painful intercourse while trying to conceive.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Aim<\/jats:title>\n To characterize the self-reported frequency and effectiveness of various self-management strategies among a population of pregnancy planners reporting painful intercourse in the past 4\u00a0weeks.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n We used cross-sectional data from Pregnancy Study Online, an online preconception cohort study of pregnancy planners. Female-identified participants completed a baseline questionnaire that included questions about demographic, medical, and reproductive factors. Participants additionally completed an optional questionnaire asking about sexual function. We used a single question from the Female Sexual Function Index to evaluate painful intercourse: \u201cOver the past 4 weeks, how often did you experience discomfort or pain during vaginal penetration (intercourse)?,\u201d with responses captured on a Likert scale from \u201cAlmost never or never\u201d to \u201cAlmost always or always.\u201d Those who reported pain more frequently than \u201cAlmost never or never\u201d were categorized as experiencing \u201cany pain\u201d with intercourse and completed additional questions about how they mitigated it. For each endorsed strategy, participants ranked how effective it was at improving pain on a Likert scale from \u201cNever effective\u201d to \u201cAlways effective.\u201d For analyses, we grouped \u201coften\u201d and \u201calways\u201d effective into a single category. We described the reported effectiveness of self-management strategies.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Outcomes<\/jats:title>\n The prevalence of participants reporting a strategy as being \u201coften\u201d or \u201calways\u201d effective at improving pain.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n In our sample of 2855 pregnancy planners, 855 (30.7%) reported any painful intercourse in the past 4\u00a0weeks. The most commonly tried pain management strategy was trying a different sex position (66.6% of participants), while the least common strategy was not allowing full penetration of the penis (29.9%). Lubricant was most effective, with 74.3% of participants reporting that it was \u201coften or always\u201d effective. The least effective strategy was finishing intercourse quickly, with only 32.5% of attempters reporting it was \u201coften or always\u201d effective.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Clinical implications<\/jats:title>\n Providers should be aware of strategies to improve painful intercourse to aid in patient counseling, both in the preconception period and more broadly when pursuing the diagnosis of, and medical management strategies for, dyspareunia.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Strengths and limitations<\/jats:title>\n Large geographic heterogeneity and low data missingness. Limitations include potential for misclassification and the use of non-validated self-report measures.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n In a population of females trying to conceive, lubricant use and changing sex positions were frequently reported as \u201coften or always\u201d effective at improving painful intercourse.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/jsxmed\/qdaf100","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,2]],"date-time":"2025-05-02T08:34:38Z","timestamp":1746174878000},"page":"1173-1183","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Strategies for self-management of painful intercourse among female pregnancy planners"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Julia C","family":"Bond","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boston Medical Center , One Boston Medical Center Place, Boston, MA 02118 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health , Boston, MA 02118 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samantha","family":"Schildroth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health , Boston, MA 02118 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katharine O","family":"White","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boston Medical Center , One Boston Medical Center Place, Boston, MA 02118 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Fisher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Boston University School of Medicine , Boston, MA 02118 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caroline F","family":"Pukall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Queens University , Kingston, ON K7L 3N6,","place":["Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jasmine","family":"Abrams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yale University School of Public Health , New Haven, CT 06510,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lauren A","family":"Wise","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health , Boston, MA 02118 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,25]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"2025070100264975900_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1040","DOI":"10.1111\/jsm.12841","article-title":"Pain experienced during vaginal and anal intercourse with other-sex partners: findings from a nationally representative probability study in the United States","volume":"12","author":"Herbenick","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Sex Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"2025070100264975900_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"43.e1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajog.2023.03.037","article-title":"Sexual dysfunction, distress, and care-seeking among females during the preconception period","volume":"229","author":"Bond","year":"2023","journal-title":"Am J Obstet Gynecol"},{"issue":"1","key":"2025070100264975900_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1007\/s11930-020-00300-5","article-title":"When love hurts: evaluation and Management of Painful Intercourse in women","volume":"13","author":"Hammett","year":"2021","journal-title":"Curr Sex Health Rep"},{"issue":"3","key":"2025070100264975900_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"198","DOI":"10.1080\/00926230701866083","article-title":"Do psychosexual factors play a role in the Etiology of provoked Vestibulodynia? 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