The Effects of an Online-Mindfulness Training on the Health-Related Quality of Life and Mental Health Outcomes of Women with Endometriosis: A Pilot Study

Our study will evaluate the feasibility of studying how a mindfulness-based training may improve subjective reports of wellbeing, pain-related outcomes, and mental health of women with endometriosis. Our sample will include women diagnosed with symptomatic endometriosis by their physician, who currently experience physical pain. Participants will be recruited from OB/GYN clinics across the U.S., including endometriosis surgical specialty clinics, and from flyers posted online and/or in community spaces relevant to women with endometriosis. Women who are interested in participating will be invited to contact the research team directly for additional information and screening. Participants will complete the Mindfulness for Humans (MfH) curriculum, an introductory course designed to teach foundational mindfulness skills through 15 online sessions lasting approximately 25 minutes, over 4 weeks. We will utilize a randomized waitlist-controlled trial to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of the MfH course on women with endometriosis. Various online self-report questionnaires will be administered as a baseline and post-intervention measure of our outcomes of interest. The main purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility and potential impact of an online mindfulness-based training (i.e. MfH curriculum) on several health-related quality of life related outcomes in women diagnosed with endometriosis by their physician. These outcomes include mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, stress), pain-related outcomes (pain, pain catastrophizing), whole-person health, and subjective well-being. We hypothesize that women with endometriosis in the intervention group will exhibit improvement in the self-reported outcomes of interest mentioned above following completion of the MfH course. Specifically, our primary endpoints are 1) to determine the feasibility of our methods and 2) to examine the potential pre- to post-intervention changes in self-reports of mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, stress), health-related quality of life/pain-related outcomes, whole-person health, and subjective well-being. We expect that the results of this pilot study will support future research investigating the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) at the national and international level in supporting the health and well-being of women with endometriosis.