Social isolation in women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain

Bruna Helena Mellado, Bruna H Mellado, Ananda C M Falcone, Omero B Poli-Neto, Omero Benedicto Poli‐Neto, Julio C Rosa E Silva, Júlio C. Rosa e Silva, Antônio Alberto Nogueira, Antonio A Nogueira, Francisco J Candido-Dos-Reis, Francisco José Cândido dos Reis
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics · 2016 · vol. 133(2) , pp. 199–201 · doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.08.024 · PMID:26873129 · W2222325520
article OA: green CC0 ⤵ 48 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This qualitative study found that women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain experience progressive social isolation due to lack of understanding and recurrent pain, leading to avoidance of intimacy and social withdrawal.

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

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perceptions of women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain regarding their social ties. METHODS: A qualitative study was undertaken of women with chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis. Focus groups discussions among four to six participants were performed until saturation at the Clinics Hospital of Ribeirão Preto Medical School, Ribeirão Preto, southwest Brazil, between February 2013 and January 2014. Transcripts were analyzed according to the grounded theory approach and the emerging categories were coded using the WebQDA platform. RESULTS: Six focus group discussions took place, with a total of 29 patients. Social isolation was the main emerging theme. Social isolation was associated with a lack of understanding about endometriosis symptoms and with resignation in face of recurrent pain episodes. Avoiding partner intimacy and isolation from family and friends were components of social isolation. CONCLUSION: Women with endometriosis develop progressive social isolation after the onset of chronic pelvic pain. This finding is important for the multidisciplinary management of the disease.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Pelvic Pain Social Isolation Adult Brazil Chronic Pain Chronic Pain Endometriosis Female Focus Groups Humans Middle Aged Pelvic Pain Qualitative Research Social Isolation Young Adult

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 (28)

Cited by (48)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-13T06:22:48.782012+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:21:13.485820+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK