Life quality improves after colorectal endometriosis operation even when the gastrointestinal symptoms persist

Quality of Life measures for gastrointestinal endometriosis

Key Points

Highlights:

• The authors validated a well-known and easy to apply survey for gastrointestinal endometriosis patients allowing a path for easy comparison for large populations.

Importance:

• The well-known Short-Form-36 survey, to be used in endometriosis and pointing out a comparison of women who had surgery for colorectal endometriosis and who did not. 

What's done here:

• 488 patients have been collected out of a French database (CIRENDO).
• Patients who had operations for colorectal endometriosis have filled the surveys, preoperatively and at postop 1 year.
• The 36-item Short Form Survey, the Gastrointestinal QoL Index, and Knowles–Eccersley–Scott Symptom Questionnaire were applied to women with colorectal endometriosis in order to validate SF36.
• Preoperative and postoperative item-internal consistency and statistical value for SF36 have been calculated.
• The authors have also used a data from French normative study to compare the results of patients who still suffer from colorectal endometriosis and did not get an operation.  

Key Results:

• All questionnaires showed significantly higher HRQoL scores at one-year follow-up compared to the pre-op scores.
• Cronbach’s value has been found to be greater than 0.7 for all eight domains that have been questioned, meaning a high validation value for use.
• The French normative data comparison revealed higher HRQoL in treated patients when compared to patients who still suffer from colorectal DE.

Limitations:

• Some variations have been reported on gastrointestinal symptoms of patients but yet the total life quality scores were improved, but the possible reason or its relation to operative techniques or complications have not been explained.

Lay Summary

Colorectal endometriosis represents a catastrophic picture for patients, and the treatment mostly requires difficult operative techniques. The life quality improvement ratios are important before deciding on an operation.

In the study conducted by Horace Roman et al, the life quality improvement of patients who were operated on for colorectal endometriosis as well as a validation for a well-known questioner, SF36, have been examined. 488 patients were collected out of a French database (CIRENDO). Patients who had operations for colorectal endometriosis have filled the surveys preoperatively and on their 12th month of operation.

The 36-item Short Form Survey (SF36) a Health-Related Quality of Life instrument, the Gastrointestinal QoL Index, and Knowles–Eccersley–Scott Symptom Questionnaire have been applied to women with colorectal endometriosis in order to validate SF36.

Preoperative and postoperative item-internal consistency and statistical value for SF36 have been calculated. The authors have also used a data from French normative study to compare the results of patients who still suffer from colorectal endometriosis and did not get an operation. All questionnaires showed statistically significantly higher health-related quality of life scores at one-year follow-up compared with the pre-op scores. Cronbach’s value was greater than 0.7 for all eight domains that have been questioned, meaning a high validation value for its use.

Interestingly, when the authors used French normative data and picked women who also have colorectal endometriosis and have not had an operation yet, the comparison revealed a higher health-related quality of life scores in surgically treated patients. The authors concluded that the SF36 is a validated and useful survey for women with colorectal endometriosis. this interesting study is recently published in the "Journal of Clinical Medicine".

Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34768731/