Diagnostic Delay of Endometriosis in the Netherlands

A H J Staal, Alexander H. J. Staal, Moniek van der Zanden, M van der Zanden, Annemiek Nap, A W Nap
Gynecologic and obstetric investigation · 2016 · vol. 81(4) , pp. 321–324 · doi:10.1159/000441911 · PMID:26742108 · W2227757318
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 125 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Endometriosis diagnosis in the Netherlands takes a median of 89 months, with GP delay being the largest component, influenced by factors like young age at symptom onset and cyclic symptoms.

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

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Endometriosis has a long diagnostic delay that is influenced by varying socio-economic and healthcare factors. In the Dutch situation, these factors are not yet identified. The aim of this study is to determine the length of the diagnostic delay of endometriosis in the Netherlands and to identify which variables affect this delay. METHODS: A retrospective study among 139 patients diagnosed with endometriosis in a secondary care hospital with a specialized multidisciplinary endometriosis team. The diagnostic process was evaluated using a questionnaire-guided telephonic interview. RESULTS: The median time interval from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis was 89 months or 7.4 years, divided in 7 months patient delay, 35 months general practitioner (GP) delay and 5 months gynecologist delay. Determinants for a longer diagnostic delay were young age at onset of symptoms, use of oral contraceptives or analgesics prescribed by GP, alternative diagnoses considered by the GP, and cyclic symptoms. Subfertility as presenting symptom resulted in faster diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the time interval to the diagnosis of endometriosis is long and mainly consists of the period of time the woman consults her first line medical professional.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

dysmenorrheadyspareuniaendometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Delayed Diagnosis Endometriosis Abdominal Pain Adolescent Adult Contraceptives, Oral Delayed Diagnosis Dysmenorrhea Dyspareunia Endometriosis Endometriosis Female General Practice Gynecology Humans Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Netherlands Retrospective Studies Secondary Care Centers

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 (23)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-12T06:13:51.797165+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:21:19.813018+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK