Pattern and Clinical Presentation of Endometriosis Among the Indigenous Africans

Background: Endometriosis is enigmatic clinical entity which is described as the existence of the endometrial tissue external of the uterine cavity. Endometriosis constitutes a serious health issue due to its high affliction of 10% in reproductive age women and its clinical manifestation of infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Despite of years of research, the causative factor and understanding of ambidextrous endometriosis pathology remains elusive, perplex and disconnected. Worldwide, there is clear documentation of prevalence of endometriosis in the development countries, however, the prevalence of endometriosis in most of black Africa is unknown. The current perspective is that indigenous African are rarely affected by endometriosis. Objective: To determine the prevalence, pattern and clinical presentation of endometriosis in indigenous African women with the primary outcome measure being the prevalence of laparoscopic visually diagnosed, histologically confirmed endometriosis and clinical presentation. Methodology: This was a prospective analytical cross-selection study in 2 hospitals in Nairobi city, Kenya. The sample size was 443 women and the duration of the study was from March 2018 to March 2021. The inclusion criteria was women aged at least 18 years up to 49 years undergoing laparoscopic surgery and willing to take part in the study. The patient’s history, clinical and laparoscopic findings and histological diagnosis were recorded and analysed using Social SPSS version 22.0. Results: The mean age of the 443 patients recruited was 33 years. The prevalence of histological confirmed endometriosis in indigenous Africans was 6.8%. Laparoscopic visualization diagnosis had a positive predictive value of 39%. Dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain scale 8-10 and dyspareunia were significant symptoms of endometriosis P<0.001. Nulliparous patients significantly had a risk of having endometriosis p<0.001. The patients with menarche at 13 years and below had a significant risk of having endometriosis p=0.001. Physical findings on clinical examination of adnexal tenderness and findings of nodules in the pouch of Douglas were significant in relation to endometriosis p<0.001. The most common site of the histological endometriosis implants were on the Pouch of Douglas (30%) and the most common form of endometriosis was superficial (43%). Conclusion: The prevalence of endometriosis in Indigenous Africa is 6.8%. Laparoscopic visualization diagnosis had low a positive predictive value of 39%. Nulliparity, menarche at the age of 13 and below, dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain scale 8-10 and dyspareunia were significantly associated with endometriosis. The most common site for endometriosis is the of Pouch of Douglas whilst the most common form of endometriosis was superficial. | Published in | Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (Volume 9, Issue 3) | | DOI | 10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17 | | Page(s) | 92-99 | | Creative Commons | This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. | | Copyright | Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |

Endometriosis, Prevalence, Clinical Presentation, Laparoscopy, Indigenous Africa

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Pattern and Clinical Presentation of Endometriosis Among the Indigenous Africans. Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 9(3), 92-99. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17 ACS Style Joseph Wanyoike Gichuhi; Julius Ogengo; Peter Gichangi. Pattern and Clinical Presentation of Endometriosis Among the Indigenous Africans. J. Gynecol. Obstet. 2021, 9(3), 92-99. doi: 10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17 AMA Style Joseph Wanyoike Gichuhi, Julius Ogengo, Peter Gichangi. Pattern and Clinical Presentation of Endometriosis Among the Indigenous Africans. J Gynecol Obstet. 2021;9(3):92-99. doi: 10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17 - @article{10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17, author = {Joseph Wanyoike Gichuhi and Julius Ogengo and Peter Gichangi}, title = {Pattern and Clinical Presentation of Endometriosis Among the Indigenous Africans}, journal = {Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics}, volume = {9}, number = {3}, pages = {92-99}, doi = {10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jgo.20210903.17}, abstract = {Background: Endometriosis is enigmatic clinical entity which is described as the existence of the endometrial tissue external of the uterine cavity. Endometriosis constitutes a serious health issue due to its high affliction of 10% in reproductive age women and its clinical manifestation of infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Despite of years of research, the causative factor and understanding of ambidextrous endometriosis pathology remains elusive, perplex and disconnected. Worldwide, there is clear documentation of prevalence of endometriosis in the development countries, however, the prevalence of endometriosis in most of black Africa is unknown. The current perspective is that indigenous African are rarely affected by endometriosis. Objective: To determine the prevalence, pattern and clinical presentation of endometriosis in indigenous African women with the primary outcome measure being the prevalence of laparoscopic visually diagnosed, histologically confirmed endometriosis and clinical presentation. Methodology: This was a prospective analytical cross-selection study in 2 hospitals in Nairobi city, Kenya. The sample size was 443 women and the duration of the study was from March 2018 to March 2021. The inclusion criteria was women aged at least 18 years up to 49 years undergoing laparoscopic surgery and willing to take part in the study. The patient’s history, clinical and laparoscopic findings and histological diagnosis were recorded and analysed using Social SPSS version 22.0. Results: The mean age of the 443 patients recruited was 33 years. The prevalence of histological confirmed endometriosis in indigenous Africans was 6.8%. Laparoscopic visualization diagnosis had a positive predictive value of 39%. Dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain scale 8-10 and dyspareunia were significant symptoms of endometriosis PConclusion: The prevalence of endometriosis in Indigenous Africa is 6.8%. Laparoscopic visualization diagnosis had low a positive predictive value of 39%. Nulliparity, menarche at the age of 13 and below, dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain scale 8-10 and dyspareunia were significantly associated with endometriosis. The most common site for endometriosis is the of Pouch of Douglas whilst the most common form of endometriosis was superficial.}, year = {2021} } - TY - JOUR T1 - Pattern and Clinical Presentation of Endometriosis Among the Indigenous Africans AU - Joseph Wanyoike Gichuhi AU - Julius Ogengo AU - Peter Gichangi Y1 - 2021/06/28 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17 DO - 10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17 T2 - Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics JF - Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics JO - Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics SP - 92 EP - 99 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2376-7820 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20210903.17 AB - Background: Endometriosis is enigmatic clinical entity which is described as the existence of the endometrial tissue external of the uterine cavity. Endometriosis constitutes a serious health issue due to its high affliction of 10% in reproductive age women and its clinical manifestation of infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Despite of years of research, the causative factor and understanding of ambidextrous endometriosis pathology remains elusive, perplex and disconnected. Worldwide, there is clear documentation of prevalence of endometriosis in the development countries, however, the prevalence of endometriosis in most of black Africa is unknown. The current perspective is that indigenous African are rarely affected by endometriosis. Objective: To determine the prevalence, pattern and clinical presentation of endometriosis in indigenous African women with the primary outcome measure being the prevalence of laparoscopic visually diagnosed, histologically confirmed endometriosis and clinical presentation. Methodology: This was a prospective analytical cross-selection study in 2 hospitals in Nairobi city, Kenya. The sample size was 443 women and the duration of the study was from March 2018 to March 2021. The inclusion criteria was women aged at least 18 years up to 49 years undergoing laparoscopic surgery and willing to take part in the study. The patient’s history, clinical and laparoscopic findings and histological diagnosis were recorded and analysed using Social SPSS version 22.0. Results: The mean age of the 443 patients recruited was 33 years. The prevalence of histological confirmed endometriosis in indigenous Africans was 6.8%. Laparoscopic visualization diagnosis had a positive predictive value of 39%. Dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain scale 8-10 and dyspareunia were significant symptoms of endometriosis PConclusion: The prevalence of endometriosis in Indigenous Africa is 6.8%. Laparoscopic visualization diagnosis had low a positive predictive value of 39%. Nulliparity, menarche at the age of 13 and below, dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain scale 8-10 and dyspareunia were significantly associated with endometriosis. The most common site for endometriosis is the of Pouch of Douglas whilst the most common form of endometriosis was superficial. VL - 9 IS - 3 ER - Author Information Copyright © 2012 -- 2026 Science Publishing Group – All rights reserved.