A New Simultaneous Tool to Assess Endometriosis Symptoms

The new tool could overcome the limitations of current retrospective questionnaires.

Key Points

Highlights: 

• Researchers developed a new self-assessment tool for the symptoms of endometriosis.

Importance:

• The new tool could help achieve personalized treatment and allows adequately monitor the efficacy of these treatments.

What's done here:

• Researchers tested the new tool in 5 patients with endometriosis-related pain symptoms for 28 consecutive days.

Key results:

• The tool was easy to use but time-consuming.
• The average compliance rate of momentary assessments was 37.8%.
• The highest completion rate was 56%, which was achieved during the first week.

Limitations:

• The tool is perceived as time-consuming and requires considerable motivation from the patient.
• Assessments several days in a row could encourage rumination.
• There may be a selection bias as not all patients are willing to participate or comply with study protocols.

Lay Summary

Researchers from the Netherlands developed a new digital tool to assess the symptoms of endometriosis using the experience sampling method. This new method may help overcome the limitations of current questionnaires. 

“After validation and testing, future studies will be planned to evaluate the use of this tool in a clinical setting in order to propose a personalized treatment plan for women with endometriosis,” wrote the researchers in an article they published in JMIR Formative Research.

The symptoms of endometriosis have a great impact on patients’ quality of life and these symptoms ofter recur even after treatment.

In the present study, a team of researchers led by Carsten Leue, MD, Ph.D. developed a new tool to accurately measure the symptoms of endometriosis and their course over time. This, the authors say, could allow the implementation of personalized treatment for patients as well as the adequate monitoring of the efficacy of these treatments.

The researchers tested the feasibility and usability of their new tool, which contained questions about the symptoms of the disease, general somatic symptoms, psychological symptoms, contextual information, and the use of food and medication in five patients with endometriosis-related pain symptoms for 28 consecutive days.

The patients said that the tool was easy to use but that it was time-consuming. The average compliance rate of momentary assessments was 37.8%. The highest completion rate was achieved during the first week with 56% compliance. 

The researchers concluded that the new tool should be used for a maximum of seven days.

The experience sampling method is a digital questioning method where randomly repeated momentary assessments are conducted. The method has several advantages over traditionally used measurements. For example, using this method, it is possible to assess the temporal relationship between variables such as physical, mental, and social factors.

Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34870608/