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 (ISSVD), the Boards of Directors of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH), and the International Pelvic Pain Society (IPPS) acknowledged the need to revise the current terminology of vulvar pain, based on the significant increase in high quality etiologic studies published in the last decade.
  
  
  METHODS
  The new terminology was achieved in four steps. The first involved a terminology consensus conference with representatives of the three 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 based on feedback from members of the societies. Finally, each society's board accepted the new terminology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In 2015, the ISSVD, ISSWSH, and IPPS 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: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Galilee Medical Center and Bar Ilan Faculty of Medicine, Nahariya, Israel. Electronic address: mdjacob@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Center for Vulvovaginal Disorders, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Colleen K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Stockdale
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergeron
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pukall
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Center for Pain Research and Innovation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Denniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zolnoun
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coady
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D060728:Reproductive Health; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012955:Societies, Medical; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D056650:Vulvodynia / Q000145:classification*; D016387:Women's Health
keywords: Consensus Conference; Dyspareunia; Pelvic Pain; Sexual Dysfunction; Terminology; Vestibulodynia; Vulva; Vulvar Pain; Vulvar Vestibulitis; Vulvodynia