Factors affecting the quality of life of women with endometriosis

High illness uncertainty in endometriosis patients is associated with a poorer quality of life.

Key Points

Highlights:

• The confidence to manage pain and the belief in the evolution of their condition significantly affect the quality of life of women with endometriosis.
• Multidisciplinary care including psychological therapy is effective in endometriosis patients with chronic pain.

Importance:

• Women’s illness uncertainty can be decreased by giving clear information that encourages them to learn to adapt to the psychological and physical difficulties.

What's done here:

• The impact of pain self-efficacy, health locus of control, coping style, and illness uncertainty on the quality of life in women with endometriosis is investigated using an online questionnaire survey.
• The study included 230 women with endometriosis from the United Kingdom.

Key Results:

• Decreasing psychological distress and improving the ability and confidence to manage pain is needed for endometriosis patients with chronic pain.

Limitations:

• White, educated, young, middle-class patients are overrepresented in this study.
• There was not any control for the type of pain, pain severity, or if the women had symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Lay Summary

Results from a new study suggest that the quality of life of women with endometriosis is significantly affected by their confidence to manage pain and their belief in the evolution of their condition.

In this study, led by Rees M. et al., published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 230 women with endometriosis from the United Kingdom who have been taking part in a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study between November 2014 and April 2015 were analyzed. The role of pain self-efficacy, health locus of control, coping style, and illness uncertainty on women’s quality of life were assessed.

The researchers found an association between higher quality of life and a higher pain self-efficacy as well as lower illness uncertainty. A lower doctor's health locus of control was statistically significant predictor of higher physical health quality of life. On the contrary, women who perceived that they were in control of their pain were found to have a poorer psychological quality of life. Authors explain this by the negative impact of women’s possible perception of themselves as ineffective to manage their condition on their psychological wellbeing.

The authors address the need for psychological therapy in the form of acceptance and commitment therapy for endometriosis patients with chronic pain. They suggest to encourage them to become more proactive at self-managing their condition by directing them to organizations giving more information on their disease.

¨Further research is needed to test if interventions targeting these variables including self-efficacy, health locus of control, coping style, and illness uncertainty can improve quality of life¨ the authors added.

Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32706632/