Thank you for your interest in this study. The aim of this study is to better understand experiences with healthcare professionals among individuals with Vulvodynia/Vulvar Pain and to examine their relationship with psychological wellbeing and quality of life.

Before starting the questionnaire, please read the following information carefully and indicate your consent to participate.

General Information

The questionnaire takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and includes questions regarding physical health, psychological wellbeing, and experiences with healthcare professionals. Some questions address sensitive topics and may evoke emotional discomfort or distress in some participants. If you experience discomfort while completing the survey, you are free to take a break or discontinue participation at any time.

Data protection declaration of consent for the Vulvodynia study 

I agree that data concerning my person will be stored and processed anonymously for studies under the responsibility of the institution named below.

Revocation of consent to the use of data
Participation can be discontinued at any time before submitting the questionnaire. Because no identifying information is collected and all data are stored anonymously, it is not possible to identify or delete individual datasets after submission.
I am aware that my data is stored anonymously, thus it cannot be deleted at my request.

Information on data protection
Name and contact details: 

Responsible for data collection is: Patricia Gmehling, Master's Student, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bamberg, Germany,
e-mail: p_gmehling@stud.uni-bamberg.de 

This study is conducted under the supervision of
Dr. Carmen Henning, Psychopathology Department, University of Bamberg, Markusstr. 8a, 96047 Bamberg,
e-mail:  carmen.henning@uni-bamberg.de

Contact details of the data protection officer: 
The official data protection officer is Thomas Loskarn, Kapuzinerstraße 25, Tel: 0951/863-1030,
e-mail: datenschutzbeauftragter@uni-bamberg.de 
 
Purpose and legal basis of the processing
Your data is collected in order to carry out the above-mentioned scientific study. 
Your data will be processed on the basis of Article 9(2)(a) GDPR. This means that the legal basis for the processing of your data is your consent to data processing for the stated purpose. 
   
Voluntary participation
Participation in the study is voluntary. You can cancel your participation in this study at any time and without giving reasons, without this resulting in any disadvantages.
 
Data storage and data protection
Your data will be stored in anonymized form on a secure server at the University of Bamberg. The anonymized data will be stored for at least 10 years after collection. This corresponds to the recommendations of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) for quality assurance in research.

According to the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights
If your personal data is processed, you have the right to obtain information about the personal data stored about you (Art. 15 GDPR).
If incorrect personal data is processed, you have the right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR).
If the legal requirements are met, you can request the erasure or restriction of processing and object to processing (Art. 17, 18 and 21 GDPR).
If you have consented to the data processing or a contract for data processing exists and the data processing is carried out using automated procedures, you may have a right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR).
If you make use of your above-mentioned rights, the person responsible for data collection will check whether the legal requirements for this are met.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Bavarian State Commissioner for Data Protection.