A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has found the reasons why a vulval (external female genital) skin condition, linked to cancer, is under diagnosed in general practice.
The study, published in the British Journal of General Practice, and led by experts from the School of Medicine at the University, found that the disease, vulval lichen sclerosus (VLS), which affects up to 3% of women, is often diagnosed late due to problems reported by clinicians.
VLS causes uncomfortable itching, scarring and increases risk of vulval cancer by up to 22 times. In most cases, it is easily treated by a steroid ointment after diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis would help prevent the unpleasant symptoms and complications for women.
VLS is a painful, itchy and often embarrassing condition affecting the female genitalia. Clinicians in primary care recognise that women face barriers to diagnosis, leading to missed opportunities for early intervention. Developing diagnostic criteria, raising awareness, and educating both women and clinicians are key to timely diagnosis and preventing long-term complications."
Knowing that the diagnosis of VLS was a problem, the researchers sent a survey to GPs, GP trainees, and nurses across England.
Out of 122 professionals who filled in the survey, nearly 40% had never had any education on vulval skin disease. Many were lacking in confidence in skills to diagnose VLS, especially male professionals, who had less experience.
Professionals were also concerned that many other factors delayed VLS diagnosis including stigma around vulval conditions, embarrassment, women not knowing what their vulva looks like, and professionals not knowing which hospital specialty to refer to.
Dr Rosalind Simpson, another author on the study adds: "VLS is an embarrassing topic to discuss, let alone consult a health professional with. Those who do seek help for their symptoms often come across barriers and there are missed opportunities to identify LS. Through better education for women and health professionals, we hope that LS can be diagnosed earlier, which in turn will lead to more timely treatment of symptoms and reduce longer term complications of the condition."
The full study can be found here.
