Examination of the relationship between body image and pain levels in vaginismus patients

In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety levels, body image and pain levels of patients diagnosed with vaginismus. In this context, the relationship between research variables and socio-demographic variables was examined. This research is a relational type screening research within quantitative research methods. The collection of data was carried out by face-to-face survey collection method. The data of the study were obtained from 50 women diagnosed with vaginismus who applied to the obstetrics and gynecology clinic service of Istanbul Naz Women's Health Center in 2021. In obtaining the research data, 'SocioDemographic Information Form', 'Body Image Scale-BIS' and 'Pain Beliefs Scale-AI' were used. The obtained data was analyzed and analyzed with SPSS, which is a statistical program for social sciences. While correlation analysis was used to reveal the relationships between variables, t test and anova analyzes were used in the comparison findings between groups. When the findings obtained in the study were examined, a significant relationship was found between body image and organic pain levels in women diagnosed with vaginismus. As a result, it was found that organic pain levels decreased as body image increased in women diagnosed with vaginismus. Keywords: Vaginismus, Body Image, Pain Beliefs