Menstrual patterns, pain symptoms, body mass index and smoking habits in women with endometriosis.

Epidemiologic studies have investigated the risk factors for endometriosis, but currently the results are still controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of some of the risk factors that have been involved with endometriosis to better understand the natural history and evolution of this disease. The medical records of 186 women with laparoscopic diagnosis of endometriosis were studied. We analysed the characteristics of the menstrual cycle, the presence of pain symptoms and the familiarity for endometriosis. Moreover, the body mass index of all patients and the average cigarettes smoked per day were calculated. Despite the fact that some of the data collected resulted to be statistically significant when compared among the four stages of endometriosis, the roles of the many factors that have been associated with the risk or the evolution of pelvic endometriosis still remain unknown.