"Better late than never but never late is better", especially in young women. A multicenter Italian study on diagnostic delay for symptomatic endometriosis

Ida Pino, Gaia Maria Belloni, Valeria Barbera, Eugenio Solima, Davide Radice, Stefano Angioni, Saverio Arena, Valentino Bergamini, Massimo Candiani, Antonino Maiorana, Antonio Maiorana, Alberto Mattei, Ludovico Muzii, Luca Pagliardini, Maria Grazia Porpora, Valentino Remorgida, Renato Seracchioli, Paolo Vercellini, Fulvio Zullo, Errico Zupi, Michele Vignali, M. Vignali, “Endometriosis Treatment Italian Club” (ETIC”, Mauro Busacca, D’Alterio Maurizio Nicola, Bonin Cecilia, Perandini Alessio, Viganò Paola, Bartiromo Ludovica, Jessica Ottolina, Matteo Schimberni, Domenico Incandela, Walter Alio, Perelli Federica, Ilaria Piacenti, Sara Scaramuzzino, Claudia Massarotti, Del Forno Simona, Nicola Berlanda, Somigliana Edgardo, Agnese Donati, Gabriele Centini, Lucia Lazzeri, La Banca Luca, C. Exacoustós, Giuseppe Sorrenti, Roberta Venturella
The European journal of contraception & reproductive health care : the official journal of the European Society of Contraception · 2022 · vol. 28(1) , pp. 10–16 · doi:10.1080/13625187.2022.2128644 · PMID:36287190 · W4307343654
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 31 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This multicenter Italian study found the mean diagnostic delay for endometriosis is 11.4 years, with delays significantly longer in patients experiencing symptom onset before age 20.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to assess the length of diagnostic delay of symptomatic endometriosis in Italy and analyse the presence of correlations between the socio-demographic status of patients and the clinical characteristics/type of diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This multicenter cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted in 10 tertiary Italian referral centres for diagnosis and treatment endometriosis. A total of 689 respondents with histologically proven endometriosis and onset of the disease with pain symptoms completed an on-line self-reported questionnaire written in their own language (World Endometriosis Research Foundation-Endometriosis Phenome and Biobanking Harmonisation Project-Endometriosis Patient Questionnaire-Minimum) evaluating endometriosis related symptoms, family history of endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain, demographic data, as well as medical, reproductive, and obstetric history. RESULTS: The mean diagnostic delay found was of 11.4 years. The mean time (14.8 years) from symptoms onset to diagnosis was significantly longer among patients aged 9-19 vs patients aged 20-30 (mean 6.9 years, p < 0.001) and patients aged 31-45 (mean 2.9, p < 0.001). No significant association were found between a delayed diagnosis and any of the clinically relevant factors such as the number or severity of the reported symptoms, familiarity, hormonal therapy intake or methodology of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The mean diagnostic delay of endometriosis in Italy is about 11 years. The delay can be up to 4 years longer in patients with pain symptoms onset under 20 years. Educating clinicians and patients on pathologic nature of endometriosis related pelvic pain is advisable to reduce waiting time to diagnosis, especially for young women.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Delayed Diagnosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

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 (23)

Cited by (31)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-13T17:20:28.795615+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-06-13T17:20:00.848191+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-06-13T06:42:57.164913+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK