The role of self-management in endometriosis pain: insights from a cross-sectional survey in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Franziska Werner, Victoria Jasinski, Renata Voltolini Velho, Jalid Sehouli, Sylvia Mechsner
Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2025 · vol. 312(2) , pp. 425–434 · doi:10.1007/s00404-025-08019-1 · PMID:40253561 · PMC12334507 · W4409598580
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 6 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

A survey of 912 women with endometriosis found that rest, heat, and exercise were the most common self-management strategies, with cannabis, osteopathy, heat, and alcohol rated most effective for pain reduction.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This cross-sectional online survey (Aug–Dec 2022) recruited 912 premenopausal, German-speaking women with diagnosed endometriosis from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to characterize non-pharmacological self-management strategies used in the prior six months, including frequency, reasons for non-use, self-rated effectiveness for pain, and whether these strategies reduced endometriosis-related medication. Most participants reported using self-management (75.4%), with the most common being rest (91.6%), heat (91.1%), and exercise (63.3%), while the highest perceived effectiveness ratings for pain reduction were given to cannabis, osteopathy, heat, and alcohol. The main reasons for not using self-management were lack of information and cost, and interventions such as Tai Chi/Qi Gong, yoga/Pilates, herbal medicine, stretching, and meditation/breathing were rated as less effective. A key limitation is that effectiveness and impact were self-rated with descriptive analyses and without replacing missing data, so the study does not establish causal effects. This paper is centrally about endometriosis—specifically self-management strategies and their perceived effectiveness for endometriosis-associated pain in German-speaking countries.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis has a significant negative impact on women's lives. Unfortunately, current medical treatments often fail to provide adequate pain relief and may cause intolerable side effects. Although many women experiencing primary dysmenorrhoea employ self-management strategies to help alleviate period-related symptoms, there is a paucity of knowledge about how women with endometriosis manage their symptoms through self-management. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, between August and December 2022, targeting women aged 18 years or older with a diagnosis of endometriosis. The survey gathered information on (pharmacological and non-pharmacological) self-management strategies employed by the respondents in the previous six months, including their frequency, reasons for non-use, self-rated effectiveness, and impact on reducing endometriosis-related medication. Furthermore, the survey collected data on demographics, medical history, current symptomatology, and medication usage. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Of the 912 valid responses, 75.4% reported using self-management strategies, with the most prevalent being rest (91.6%), heat (91.1%), and exercise (63.3%). The most highly rated techniques in terms of effectiveness in pain reduction were cannabis, osteopathy, heat, and alcohol, with mean effectiveness ratings of 8.0, 7.3, 7.1, and 6.8, respectively, on the Numerical Rating Scale. Interventions, such as Tai Chi/Qi Gong, yoga/Pilates, herbal medicine, stretching, and meditation/breathing, were rated as being less effective. The lack of information and costs were identified as the primary reasons for not utilising self-management approaches. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study may provide evidence for the reimbursement of self-management techniques by health insurance companies for the treatment of endometriosis-associated pain.

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Outcome instruments

NRS-pain rASRM Enzian

Condition tags

dysmenorrheaendometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis 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 (31)

Cited by (6)

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