Sexual Activity, Contraception, and Reproductive Factors in Predicting Endometriosis

Darrow SL, S L Darrow, Sherri L. Darrow, S Selman, Selman S, Sharon Selman, Batt Re, R E Batt, Ronald E. Batt, M A Zielezny, Maria Zielezny, Zielezny MA, John E. Vena, J E Vena, Vena JE
American Journal of Epidemiology · 1994 · vol. 140(6) , pp. 500–509 · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117276 · PMID:8067343 · W1893055991
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 33 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This case-control study found no differences in birth control use, intercourse timing, or pregnancy delay strategies but revealed older age at first birth control use and regular intercourse for endometriosis cases compared to controls.

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Abstract

To examine the belief that women with endometriosis have "voluntarily" delayed childbirth, the authors used a case-control approach to assess the relation between sexual, contraceptive, and reproductive factors and endometriosis. A total of 104 laparoscopically confirmed newly diagnosed cases of endometriosis were identified from a gynecologic specialty clinic in western New York state in 1987. Two control groups were used: 1) 100 friend controls, and 2) 98 medical controls. No differences were found between study groups on use of reliable birth control, use of birth control before a first pregnancy, age at first intercourse, frequency of intercourse, decisions to delay pregnancy, age at first pregnancy, or measures of body size. Cases were older than medical controls by about 1 year when they first began using birth control (19.8 vs. 18.6 years, p < 0.05). Cases were also 1 year older than friend controls when they began regular intercourse (20.9 vs. 19.5 years, p < 0.005) and at first marriage (22.8 vs. 21.7 years, p < 0.05). A larger percentage of cases than friend controls were never pregnant (p < 0.0001) and were more likely to have problems becoming pregnant (p < 0.0001). Results, overall, do not support simplistic assumptions that characterize endometriosis patients as career women who voluntarily delay pregnancy. Rather, the results point to a complex relation between endometriosis and reproductive, sexual activity, and fertility-related factors.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Contraception Contraception Endometriosis Reproduction Reproduction Sexual Behavior Sexual Behavior Adult Case-Control Studies Data Collection Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Fertility Humans Marital Status Maternal Age Socioeconomic Factors Stereotyping

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

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