Abstract

There are very few studies in literature about Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD) prevalence to date, and no one has ever been done in Italy. This study replicated the earlier Canadian research in order to investigate the prevalence of PGAD diagnostic criteria in an Italian group of 679 female university students and to compare the results with those obtained in the Canadian group. In addition, the research aimed at verifying if the type or number of PGAD criteria met and the intensity of symptoms are associated with more negative emotions, and if they can be related to age and sexual orientation. The results confirm that some women can experience spontaneous genital sensations that can vary in intensity and duration, and can be associated with a wide range of emotions. However, the results seem to suggest the importance of other factors in the evaluation of the symptoms, rather than factors related to their nature and intensity or age and sexual orientation. Moreover, 2 participants (0.29%) met all five criteria and reported high distress, confirming that there is a potential clinical condition called PGAD, in which the hypertrophic, intense and intrusive spontaneous genital arousal might determine the presence of extremely negative emotions.

摘要

迄今为止，关于持续性生殖器唤醒障碍 (PGAD) 患病率的文献研究很少，而且在意大利也从未进行过研究。本研究复制了早期的加拿大研究，以调查意大利 679 名女大学生群体中 PGAD 诊断标准的流行情况，并将结果与​​加拿大群体中获得的结果进行比较。此外，该研究旨在验证是否符合 PGAD 标准的类型或数量以及症状的强度是否与更多的负面情绪有关，以及它们是否与年龄和性取向有关。结果证实，一些女性可以体验自发的生殖器感觉，其强度和持续时间各不相同，并且可能与多种情绪有关。然而，结果似乎表明其他因素在评估症状中的重要性，而不是与其性质和强度或年龄和性取向相关的因素。此外，2 名参与者 (0.29%) 满足所有五个标准并报告高度痛苦，证实存在称为 PGAD 的潜在临床状况，其中肥大、强烈和侵入性的自发性生殖器唤醒可能决定极端负面情绪的存在。