Living with endometriosis: a phenomenological study

Teresa Rea, Pierluigi Giampaolino, Silvio Simeone, Gianluca Pucciarelli, Rosaria Alvaro, Assunta Guillari
International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2020 · vol. 15(1) , pp. 1822621 · doi:10.1080/17482631.2020.1822621 · PMID:32964806 · PMC7782044 · W3088190348
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 31 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This phenomenological study explored women's lived experiences with endometriosis, revealing themes of diagnostic delays, worsened life quality, difficult intimate relationships, and concerns about fertility.

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Abstract

Purpose: To explore and understand the lived experiences of women with endometriosis.Method: Qualitative study using Cohen phenomenology.Results: The data analysis identified four main themes and two sub-themes. The main themes are: delay in diagnosis, which includes the sub-theme of the misunderstanding of one’s state; worsening of one’s life, which includes the sub-theme of a painful life; disastrous intimate life with one’s partner; and uncertainty about being able to have one’s own children.Conclusions: The themes that emerged represent the starting point for further research and for the implementation of specific educational and support strategies that improve self-care, commitment and quality of life for women with endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Adolescent Adult Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Middle Aged Pain Pain Pain Quality of Life Sexual Behavior Sexual Behavior Young Adult

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.

References (59)

Cited by (31)

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