Bibliographic record
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Emergent evidence suggests that pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction contributes to dyspareunia, the experience of pain on vaginal penetration. Electromyography (EMG) is a valuable tool for the assessment of neuromuscular control and could be very useful in enhancing our understanding of PFM involvement in sexual function and in conditions such as dyspareunia. However, PFM EMG must be interpreted within the context of the many factors that can influence findings. AIM: To outline the main factors to consider when evaluating PFM EMG for female sexual function and dyspareunia and to synthesize the literature in which EMG has been acquired and interpreted appropriately in this context. METHODS: Standards for the acquisition and interpretation of EMG were retrieved and consulted. An exhaustive search of four electronic databases (Embase, CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycLit) and hand searching references from relevant articles were performed to locate articles relevant to PFM involvement in sexual function and in dyspareunia in which EMG was used as a primary outcome. Study outcomes were evaluated within the context of the appropriate application and interpretation of EMG and their contribution to knowledge. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A synthesis of the evidence was used to present the current state of knowledge on PFM involvement in sexual function and in dyspareunia. RESULTS: Few standards documents and no practice guidelines for the acquisition and interpretation of PFM EMG are available. Some cohort studies with small samples of women have described the role of the PFMs in female sexual function. The literature on PFM involvement in dyspareunia also is limited, with outcomes suggesting that higher than normal tonic activation and higher than normal reflex responses might be present in the superficial PFM layer and might be characteristic features of dyspareunia. The data are less clear on the involvement of the deep layer of the PFMs in dyspareunia. CONCLUSION: Guidelines for the application and interpretation of PFM EMG in the context of sexual function and dyspareunia are needed. When interpreted within the context of their strengths and limitations, EMG data have contributed valuable information to our understanding of PFM involvement in dyspareunia. The literature to date suggests that the superficial PFMs might have higher than normal tone and exaggerated responses to tactile or penetrative provocation in at least some women with dyspareunia. McLean L, Brooks K. What Does Electromyography Tell Us About Dyspareunia? Sex Med Rev 2017;5:282-294.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.012 | 0.079 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.004 | 0.002 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.010 | 0.010 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.005 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.006 | 0.010 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Research integrity | 0.005 | 0.003 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.007 | 0.002 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".