(205) What Do We Know About Women’s and Partners’ Experiences with Vaginismus?

Introduction Vaginismus, defined as a difficulty with penetration, is associated with a significant impact on women’s and partners’ lives. Despite being classified under Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder in the DSM-5, the term vaginismus persists with significance both for women and professionals. The help-seeking process, obtaining adequate clinical assessment, and appropriate healthcare can be complex and protracted. Barriers may include embarrassment about disclosing the difficulty, a lack of knowledge among healthcare professionals, and the use of pro-penetrative intervention strategies. Understanding the perspectives of women and partners can provide relevant insights to improve the response of healthcare professionals to vaginismus. Objective This narrative review aims to summarise the evidence available on how women and partners experience the help-seeking process, the diagnostic process, and the interventions proposed for vaginismus. Methods This review was performed using a non-standardised methodology. A search was conducted to explore the help-seeking and treatment experiences of vaginismus among women and partners using the following key terms: vaginismus, help-seeking, treatment, interventions, experiences, women, and partners, across Web of Science, SCOPUS, PubMed, and CINAHL, encompassing publications up to October 2025. Results The search yielded 17 articles, exploring the results of 9 studies. The women’s perspective was the focus of analysis in seven studies (N = 268). One study with 17 participants analysed the women’s (N=12) and the partners’ (N=5) perspectives. One study (N = 7) analysed the partner’s perspective alone. Methodological approaches included a mixed-methods study (n = 89) and eight qualitative studies (n = 203). The qualitative designs utilised a diverse range of approaches, including interviews, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), story drawing, grounded theory, metaphor analysis, and content analysis of posts on an online forum. Participants came from a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds, including the UK, Australia, the USA, Sweden, Brazil, Germany, Canada, Turkey, and Iran. Different themes exploring the experiences of vaginismus are covered, such as lack of knowledge and beliefs, barriers and facilitating factors, professional and partner support, and treatment frustrations. Conclusions Knowledge of women’s and partners’ perspectives on help-seeking and interventions for vaginismus is currently limited. While a few studies have explored women’s experiences, the partner’s perspective is rarely considered, highlighting a significant gap in our knowledge. It would be important for future research to consider different cultural and geographical contexts. Incorporating individuals’ perspectives and recommendations into therapeutic approaches can improve treatment outcomes by aligning them with expectations and needs. Additionally, it would be valuable to consider the perspectives of healthcare professionals when working with these women or couples. Disclosure No