Stigma and Endometriosis: A Brief Overview and Recommendations to Improve Psychosocial Well-Being and Diagnostic Delay

Omar T. Sims, Jhumka Gupta, Stacey A Missmer, Irene O. Aninye
International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021 · vol. 18(15) , pp. 8210 · doi:10.3390/ijerph18158210 · PMID:34360501 · W3192655550
review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 92 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This paper reviews endometriosis-related stigma's impact on psychosocial well-being and diagnostic delay, recommending increased stigma assessment, awareness campaigns, and interventions.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disease that affects approximately 1 in 10 women of reproductive age. Symptoms of severe pelvic pain, infertility, fatigue, and abnormal menstruation can cause significant negative effects on an individual's physical and mental health, including interactions with their family, friends, and health care providers. Stigma associated with endometriosis has been under-studied and is rarely discussed in current literature. Herein, this paper aims to provide a brief overview of published literature to explore and establish the plausibility of stigma as a driver of suboptimal psychosocial well-being and diagnostic delay among individuals living with endometriosis. We present the clinical characteristics and physical and mental health consequences associated with endometriosis, highlight several theoretical constructs of stigma, and review the limited studies documenting women's lived experiences of endometriosis-related stigma. To mitigate harmful effects of this phenomenon, we recommend increasing efforts to assess the prevalence of and to characterize endometriosis-related stigma, implementing awareness campaigns, and developing interventions that combat the multidimensional negative effects of stigma on timely care, treatment, and quality of life for individuals living with endometriosis.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Delayed Diagnosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Mental Health Quality of Life Social Stigma

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 (88)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
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License: CC0 · commercial use OK