Biopsychosocial Approaches for the Management of Female Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Systematic Review

Background/Objective

Current guidelines recommend biopsychosocial-informed treatment for chronic pelvic pain (CPP). The objective of this systematic review was to describe the available biopsychosocial approaches for the treatment of CPP, and the outcomes reported, to understand how guideline-recommended treatments can be applied.

Search Strategy

MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Emcare, AMED and Cochrane trial registries were searched (inception to 17 November 2023).

Selection Criteria

CPP Studies in women where the principal treatment modality was a biopsychosocial approach were included. Prospero registration: CRD42022374256.

Data Collection/Analysis

Data extraction included study setting, population, study design, intervention characteristics and outcome measures and is described via a narrative synthesis.

Results

The review included 14 RCTs (871 patients) and identified four broad intervention categories (Acceptance Commitment Therapy n = 2, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy n = 6, Mindfulness-based approaches n = 2, and Physiotherapy-based interventions n = 4). Pain science education (PSE) and, exposure/engagement with valued activity were recognised as important aspects of treatment regardless of intervention type. The most utilised outcomes were pain reduction and emotional functioning, with all studies reporting improvements in these domains. Heterogeneity in outcomes prevented efficacy comparison. High risk of bias was identified in six studies (1/4 physiotherapy-based approaches, 2/6 CBT, 1/2 ACT and 2/2 mindfulness-based interventions).

Conclusions

CBT and ACT-based biopsychosocial approaches were found effective in reducing pain and improving psychometric outcomes for CPP. Evaluation indicated PSE, and exposure/engagement in valued activity are important components of biopsychosocial management. Outcome heterogeneity needs to be addressed in future trials.