Demographics of New Zealand women with vulval lichen sclerosus: is specialist care equitable?

AIM: Vulval lichen sclerosus is an inflammatory genital skin condition associated with poor quality of life, sexual dysfunction and risk of squamous cell carcinoma. The aim of this study was to document the demographics of women with lichen sclerosus seen at specialist vulval clinics.

METHOD: We performed a retrospective review of women with lichen sclerosus seen at a tertiary combined gynaecology/dermatology vulval clinic over 12 months and Auckland Regional sexual health vulval clinics over five years. Data were collected for age, ethnicity, skin biopsy, treatment, referral source and time from symptom onset to diagnosis. Ethnicity was compared with Census data for the Auckland region.

DISCUSSION: Three hundred and thirty-five women were included; 273 from the gynaecology/dermatology clinic and 62 from sexual health. Women seen at sexual health were younger than those seen by gynaecology/dermatology (mean age 45 and 64, respectively; p<0.0001). Most referrals were from general practitioners (54%), although self-referrals made up 42% of sexual health consultations. The most common ethnicity was European (82%) followed by Asian (10%), Māori (4%) and Pacific Peoples (3%). Compared with Census data, European women were over-represented and Māori, Pacific and Asian women were under-represented.

CONCLUSION: We found inequitable ethnic representation of women with vulval lichen sclerosus seen at our institution. Causes may include sociocultural beliefs, variations in access to care or ethnic differences in the prevalence of lichen sclerosus. A deeper understanding of underlying issues would enable planning of initiatives to ensure equitable access to specialist care for all New Zealand women with vulval conditions.