OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability of the diagnosis of @entity25207 as defined by Friedrich and to evaluate the usefulness of Friedrich's criteria in the diagnostic process. METHODS: In a university hospital, 146 @entity1 with @entity546 had two sets of gynecologic examinations involving @entity158 ratings, took part in structured interviews, and completed the McGill-Melzack @entity158 Questionnaire. RESULTS: Kappa values for the @entity25207 diagnosis ranged from 0.66 to 0.68 for inter-rater agreement and from 0.49 to 0.54 for test-retest reliability. Mean @entity158 ratings ranged from 2.45 at the 12 o'clock site to 7.58 at the 9-12 o'clock site; ratings for all sites correlated significantly between gynecologists. @entity158 in the labia majora and labia minora was minimal for both sets of examinations, with mean @entity1 @entity158 ratings ranging from 0 to 1.49. Gynecologists' erythema ratings did not correlate significantly with respect to either inter-rater agreement or test-retest reliability. Of Friedrich's three diagnostic criteria, only tenderness to pressure within the vulvar vestibule differentiated @entity546 @entity1 with and without @entity25207 . In reference to their @entity158 , 88.1% of @entity1 with @entity25207 chose adjectives from the McGill-Melzack @entity158 Questionnaire describing a thermal quality, and 86.6% chose adjectives describing an incisive pressure sensation. CONCLUSION: @entity25207 can be reliably diagnosed in @entity1 with @entity546 . @entity158 is limited to the vulvar vestibule and can be rated and described in a consistent fashion by these @entity1 . Erythema does not appear to be a useful diagnostic criterion.

XXXX : reliability of diagnosis and evaluation of current diagnostic criteria.

@entity25207 :: ('MESH:D054515', 'Disease') :: ['Vulvar vestibulitis', 'vulvar vestibulitis'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'patients', 'participant'] @entity546 :: ('MESH:D004414', 'Disease') :: ['dyspareunia'] @entity158 :: ('MESH:D010146', 'Disease') :: ['vestibular pain', 'coital pain', 'Pain', 'pain', 'vulvar pain']
@entity25207 :: (MESH:D054515,Disease) :: ['Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome']
