Study Sheds Light on Effect of Endometriosis and Infertility on Couples

More research is needed to be able to differentiate the effect of one and the other.

Key Points

Highlights: 

• Endometriosis and infertility are significantly associated with partnership and sexuality satisfaction.

Importance:

• More research is needed to differentiate between the effect of endometriosis and infertility on couples.

What’s done here:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study in 62 women with endometriosis and 46 partners.

Key results:

• Significant effects on both the woman and the man occur in the case of endometriosis and infertility. 
• Depression has a significant negative actor effect in men for partnership satisfaction and a negative actor and partner effect in women for sexual satisfaction.
• In women, social support had a significant positive actor effect and age had a significant actor and partner effect on sexuality satisfaction.

Limitations:

• There were no control couples in this study, i.e. couples without endometriosis or infertility or couples with infertility but no endometriosis.
• All couples were heterosexual in this study.

Lay Summary

Endometriosis and infertility are significantly associated with partnership and sexuality satisfaction, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

However, the large overlap between endometriosis and infertility underscores the fact that more research is needed to differentiate between the effects of the two on couples’ satisfaction.

To identify the link between different predictors of partnership and sexual satisfaction and endometriosis and infertility on both members of the couple, a team of researchers led by Dr. Beate Ditzen from the Institute of Medical Psychology, University Hospital Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Germany conducted a cross-sectional study in 62 women with endometriosis and 46 partners. Some of the couples were affected by infertility. 

The results showed that significant effects on both members of the couple only occurred in couples who were affected by both endometriosis and infertility. Depression had a significant negative actor effect on men for partnership satisfaction. It also had a negative actor and partner effect on women for sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, social support had a significant positive actor effect on women regarding partnership satisfaction.  Finally, age had a significant actor and partner effect on sexuality satisfaction for women.

“Infertility could be a decisive factor,” the authors of the study concluded. “Overall, studies on both endometriosis and infertility should always consider both factors independently as well as in their interdependence”.

Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38705889/