ArticleInternational urogynecology journal2024
Believing women: a qualitative exploration of provider disbelief and pain dismissal among women with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome from the MAPP research network.
Article in International urogynecology journal, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Navigating healthcare, managing life, or falling through the cracks? A theory-informed systematic review of the chronic burden faced by women with recurrent urinary tract infections.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- "I don't know how to treat you": Testosterone and gynecological care for transmasculine and gender diverse adults.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Article
- What do we know about medical invalidation and related concepts? - A scoping review and thematic analysis about the definitions, measurements, causes, consequences and potential solutions for medical invalidation.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Painful subjects: the sociogenic processing of pain in individuals with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.SSM. Mental health · 2026Article
- From Dismissal to Partnership: Patient Experiences of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Healthcare Informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework and Behaviour Change Theory.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Use of Paracervical Blocks for Patients Who Undergo Intrauterine Device Insertion.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- "I can't enjoy my full sex life": Understanding the sexual experiences of women with interstitial cystitis.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Perspectives on Pain: A Narrative Review of Pain Beliefs, Coping, and Clinical Implications.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Sources and consequences of self-doubt in patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: a qualitative study in Europe and North America.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Variability in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome: Internet Survey.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Efficacy and safety of drug combinations for chronic pelvic pain: a systematic review.Pain reports · 2025Review
- Interstitial cystitis-an imbalance of risk and protective factors?Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introduction and hypothesisAlthough allusions to the importance of a good physician-patient relationship are present throughout the interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) literature, qualitative analysis of patients' perspectives on the clinical encounter is lacking, particularly among women who are most commonly affected by IC/BPS. Therefore, we adopted a patient-centered experiential approach to understanding female patients' perception of clinical encounters.
methodsWe re-analyzed previously collected data from a qualitative study on patient flare experiences including eight focus groups of female IC/BPS patients (n = 57, mean = 7/group). Qualitative analysis applied grounded theory to index all physician-patient interactions, then thematically coded these interactions to elucidate common experiences of clinical encounters.
resultsWomen with IC/BPS shared common experiences of provider disbelief and pain dismissal. Discussions with participants demonstrated the extent to which these negative encounters shape patients' health care-seeking behavior, outlook, and psychosocial well-being. Appearing in more than one guise, provider disbelief and dismissal occurred as tacit insinuations, explicit statements, silence, oversimplification, and an unwillingness to listen and discuss alternative treatment. As a result, women adopted several strategies including: rotating specialists; "testing" physicians; self-advocacy; self-management; avoiding the stigma of chronic pain; crying; and opting for alternative medicine over biomedicine.
conclusionsThe prevalence of provider disbelief and pain dismissal among women with IC/BPS indicates a need to improve physician-patient communication, informed by the struggles, anxieties, and gendered inequities that female patients with chronic pain experience in their diagnostic journey. Results suggest that further investigation into the power dynamics of clinical encounters might be required.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.