{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,22]],"date-time":"2026-04-22T04:36:55Z","timestamp":1776832615546,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Low Genit Tract Dis"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>The aim of the study was to investigate the knowledge of vulvar anatomy and vulvar self-examination (VSE) in a sample of Italian women attending a gynecology clinic.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>For this original research from May to July 2019, 512 women attending the Lower Genital Tract Clinic at the Department of Surgical Sciences of the University of Torino were invited to participate in a 29-question survey about vulvar anatomy, VSE, and sociodemographic details. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>Of 512 patients, 500 completed the questionnaire (98% response rate). The mean age of respondents was 41 years (range = 17\u201377 years). Education level was evenly distributed between elementary, high school, and university graduates. Only 15% of interviewed women were able correctly sketching vulvar anatomy. Seventy-six percent of the women had not heard about VSE, and 61% of the women approach their genitalia with feelings of shame and embarrassment. Only 23% of the women would seek medical advice after identification of possible abnormalities during VSE. A majority (69%) of the women would like to have more information about VSE and vulvar health through educational videos and social media.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>Education about VSE may lead to earlier diagnosis of vulvar cancers and other pathologies. Further efforts are needed to disperse information about normal external female genital anatomy and VSE to achieve self-confidence among women.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1097\/lgt.0000000000000585","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,20]],"date-time":"2021-01-20T02:04:59Z","timestamp":1611108299000},"page":"166-171","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":37,"title":["Knowledge of Vulvar Anatomy and Self-examination in a Sample of Italian Women"],"prefix":"10.1097","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Mario","family":"Preti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences University of Torino, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Amanda","family":"Selk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"}]},{"given":"Colleen","family":"Stockdale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA"}]},{"given":"Federica","family":"Bevilacqua","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences University of Torino, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Vieira-Baptista","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Fulvio","family":"Borella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences University of Torino, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Niccol\u00f2","family":"Gallio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences University of Torino, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Stefano","family":"Cosma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences University of Torino, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Catarina","family":"Melo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lower Genital Tract Unit, Centro Hospitalar de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Leonardo","family":"Micheletti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences University of Torino, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Benedetto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences University of Torino, Torino, Italy"}]}],"member":"276","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"bib1-20250524","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"854","DOI":"10.1097\/IGC.0b013e318249bce6","article-title":"Trends in of late-stage squamous cell vulvar carcinomas: analysis of the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database","volume":"22","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int J Gynecol Cancer"},{"key":"bib2-20250524","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2081","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm8122081","article-title":"Changes in the clinicopathological demographics of vulvar cancer in Japan: increasing oldest-old, stage shifting, and 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