title: 2015 ISSVD, ISSWSH, and IPPS Consensus Terminology and Classification of Persistent Vulvar Pain and Vulvodynia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 2014, the executive council of the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease, the boards of directors of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health, and the International Pelvic Pain Society acknowledged the need to revise the current terminology of vulvar pain, on the basis of the significant increase in high-quality etiologic studies published in the last decade.
  
  
  METHODS
  The new terminology was achieved in the following 4 steps. The first involved a terminology consensus conference with representatives of the 3 societies, held in April 2015. Then, an analysis of the relevant published studies was used to establish a level of evidence for each factor associated with vulvodynia. The terminology was amended on the basis of feedback from members of the societies. Finally, each society's board accepted the new terminology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In 2015, the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease, International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health, and International Pelvic Pain Society adopted a new vulvar pain and vulvodynia terminology that acknowledges the complexity of the clinical presentation and pathophysiology involved in vulvar pain and vulvodynia, and incorporates new information derived from evidence-based studies conducted since the last terminology published in 2003.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Galilee Medical Center and Bar Ilan Faculty of Medicine, Nahariya, Israel; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Center for Vulvovaginal Disorders, Washington, DC; 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa,Iowa City, IA; 4Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec; 5Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; 6Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Pain Research and Innovation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC; and 7Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Colleen K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Stockdale
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergeron
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pukall
authors.forename: Denniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zolnoun
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coady
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012958:Societies, Scientific; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D056650:Vulvodynia / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*