Problems of communication, diagnosis, and treatment experienced by women using the New Zealand health services for chronic pelvic pain: a quantitative analysis.

Women who have used the New Zealand medical services for chronic pelvic pain report problems with diagnosis, communication with the doctor, lack of information, and inappropriate treatment. There is a sense of increasing loss of control as repeated visits to the doctor do not produce an understanding of the pain. I conducted a survey to investigate the extent to which these problems are affecting the total group of women using the health services for pelvic pain in New Zealand and to ascertain if any particular group of women is more likely to be experiencing such problems. The pattern of responses showed that the problematic facets of the medical encounter formed an interactive pattern: Women who had one type of problem tended to have others. Between one fourth and one third of the sample experienced these problems. Problems surrounding communication with the doctor, diagnosis, medication, and surgery are discussed. Women of lower socioeconomic status were found to be more likely to experience these problems.