Endometriosis Impacts Many Aspects of a Woman’s Life

It is important to recognize this impact and provide the necessary support women with endometriosis need.

Key Points

Highlights:

• Endometriosis affects women not only physically but also regarding social life, relationships, and future plans

Importance:

• It is important to acknowledge the severe negative impact endometriosis can have on women’s lives and provide additional services to support them.

Key results:

• Women with endometriosis have low levels of subjective well-being compared to the average for Western populations. 
• Women with endometriosis have a shallow health-related quality of life scores.
• There is a significant relationship between women’s scores on the endometriosis health profile and their wellbeing index.

Limitations of the study:

• Only women older than 18 were analyzed and the study comprised women who were relatively young, so the results may not be representative of all age groups. 
• Most participants were recruited via online support groups meaning that they likely already had concerns about their condition, so researchers might have missed women for whom the symptoms of the condition are minimal, and the findings might not be representative of all women with endometriosis.

Lay Summary

Endometriosis has a severe negative impact not only on the physical health of a woman but also on other aspects of her life including optimism and self-esteem. This is according to an Australian study published in the Journal Healthcare for Women International. 

This is especially the case for younger women (below the age of 25) who reported inferior outcomes about relationships, social wellbeing, and future life plans.

Based on these findings, the authors of the study recommend health providers and policy-makers to consider additional support services targeting younger women in particular.

“[…] the relative invisibility of endometriosis further compounds the negative impact of the condition, with many women in the study reporting a lack of understanding about their condition,” the researchers wrote. They added that it is therefore of great importance to raise awareness about the condition and acknowledge the severe impact this situation can have on some women.

To examine the impact of endometriosis on women’s subjective well-being, health-related quality of life, and lived experience, Drs. Georgia Rush and RoseAnne Misajon at Monash University in Australia analyzed 500 women, ages 15 to 63 living with endometriosis. All participants completed an online questionnaire comprising the Personal Wellbeing Index, a scale containing seven items of satisfaction, each corresponding to a quality of life domain such as standard of living, health, achieving in life, relationships, safety, community-connectedness, and future security. The questionnaire also included the Endometriosis Health Profile-30, which is used to measure the wide range of effects that endometriosis can have on women’s lives, and various open-ended questions.

Upon the analysis of the answers, the researchers found that women with endometriosis reported levels of subjective well-being considerably lower than the average for Western populations. They also obtained a shallow health-related quality of life scores. Finally, researchers found that there was a significant relationship between the women’s scores on the endometriosis health profile and their personal wellbeing index.

Subjective wellbeing describes how people experience the quality of their lives. It includes both emotional reactions and cognitive judgments. Health-related quality of life is a person's perceived physical and mental health over time.

Research Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29095116