Psychosocial Factors Must Be Taken Into Account When Dealing With Endometriosis

Study shows that psychosocial factors play an important role in the physical and mental health of endometriosis patients.

Key Points

Highlights: 

• Psychosocial factors play an important role in the physical and mental health of patients with endometriosis.

Importance:

This knowledge can help guide the best approach for the management of the disease.

What’s done here:

Researchers collected data about the physical and mental health of patients with endometriosis using an online survey and correlated these with sociodemographic, endometriosis-related, and psychosocial factors.

Key results:

• Participants' mental health was below average
• Factors associated with worse health were delays in diagnosis, higher numbers of surgeries, more pelvic pain, and lower sense of coherence, self-efficacy, sexual satisfaction, and satisfaction with treatment.
• There was a significant association between pelvic pain and treatment satisfaction and health

Limitations:

• Only a third of the participants completed the survey three months later.
• The study only included two survey points so measurement errors an ceiling effects could not be accounted for.
• The data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have had an effect on participants' physical and mental health. 

Lay Summary

It is crucial to take into account both physical and psychosocial factors to maintain physical and mental health in patients with endometriosis, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Psychology & Health.

“Treatment should address both pelvic pain and psychosocial factors to improve long-term physical and mental health in [endometriosis],” the authors of the study wrote.

To assess the possible link between physical and psychosocial factors and the physical and mental health of patients living with endometriosis, the team led by Dr. Sylvia Mechsner from 2
Endometriosis Centre Charité, Department of Gynaecology with Center for Oncological Surgery, at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in Berlin, Germany conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

The researchers collected data using an online survey from February to August 2021. 

They assessed the sociodemographic, endometriosis-related, and psychosocial factors of the responders (723 women). They also collected data about their physical and mental health. 

Then, three months later, they reassessed the physical and mental health of 216 respondents.

They found that the participants' physical health was within the average range. However, their mental health was below average both at the beginning of the study and three months later. 

Cross-sectional analyses showed that worse health was associated with longer delays in diagnosis, higher numbers of surgeries, more pelvic pain, and lower sense of coherence, self-efficacy, sexual satisfaction, and satisfaction with treatment. 

Longitudinal analyses revealed that there was a significant association between pelvic pain and the satisfaction of participants with gynecological treatment and health.

“The findings of this study confirm that pelvic pain is a key factor in the well-being of people living with [endometriosis],” the researchers concluded, “and that shortening the diagnostic delay remains a significant goal in [endometriosis] care”.

Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38251641/