Psychological hallmarks of endometriosis with emphasis on sexual dysfunction, stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms

Luděk Fiala, Jiří Lenz, Z Adamík, Rachel Sajdlova, Daniela Kestlerova, Václav Větvička
In: International Clinical Pathology Journal · 2023 · vol. 10(1) , pp. 45–48 · doi:10.15406/icpjl.2023.10.00218 · W4383555333
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study evaluated sexual dysfunction, stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in women with endometriosis, finding correlations between psychosocial trauma, sexual function, depression, prolactin, and anxiety.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This prospective study evaluated psychological hallmarks in 92 women with histologically confirmed endometriosis, using psychometric tools for sexual dysfunction (FSDS-R), trauma/stress symptoms (TSC-40), depression (BDI-II), and anxiety (HAM-A), alongside serum cortisol and prolactin measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay. Positive correlations were reported between TSC-40 stress/trauma scores and sexual dysfunction questionnaire results (R=0.30), between BDI-II depression and prolactin (R=0.39) and anxiety (R=0.33), and a strong correlation between prolactin and anxiety (R=0.86), with Mann-Whitney testing used for confirmation. A key limitation explicitly noted in the paper’s framing is that psychiatric comorbidities and methodological differences across studies may contribute to contradictory findings, and patients with diagnosed psychiatric conditions (including PTSD) were excluded. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it directly examines correlations between sexual dysfunction and stress-related hormones, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in women with endometriosis.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is associated with gynecological disorders and infertility. More than 50 % of women report that they suffer from sexual dysfunctions, the most significant of which is pain, which can subsequently be associated with stress, anxiety, depression and partner discomfort. In our study, we focused on evaluating these symptoms. A total of 92 patients with endometriosis were included in the study. Clinical examinations were focused on biochemical analysis of cortisol and prolactin, as important hormones that can respond to stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. At the same time, sexual function, stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms were psychometrically evaluated in these patients. Positive correlations were found between psychosocial trauma/stress and results from the sexual function questionnaire (R=0.30). Furthermore, positive correlations were evaluated between the results of Beck's questionnaire for assessing depression and prolactin (R=0.39) and also between the results of Beck's questionnaire for assessing depression and the anxiety test (R=0.33). We also found a high correlation between prolactin and anxiety (R=0.86). All results were confirmed by the Mann-Whitney test. These results represent important findings regarding the relationship of certain stress hormones, with sexual dysfunction and symptoms related to stress, anxiety and depression in women with endometriosis, which are still receiving little attention within endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

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last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
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