The impact of endometriosis upon quality of life: a qualitative analysis

Georgina Jones, Crispin Jenkinson, Jenkinson C, Kennedy S, Stephen Kennedy
Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology · 2004 · vol. 25(2) , pp. 123–133 · doi:10.1080/01674820400002279 · PMID:15715035 · W2042159399
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This qualitative study interviewed 24 women with endometriosis, identifying pain, physical and social functioning, emotional well-being, and new areas like lack of control as negatively impacting their quality of life.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: to explore and describe the impact of endometriosis upon quality of life. SETTING: Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford. DESIGN: qualitative study. SAMPLE: twenty-four women with a laparoscopic diagnosis of endometriosis. METHODS: face to face, individual, in-depth interviews. RESULTS: analysis of the data revealed 15 descriptive categories. Pain, physical functioning, role performance, social functioning, emotional well-being, relationship with the medical profession, treatment, sexual intercourse, energy and vitality, employment and infertility were found to be a particular concern for women with endometriosis. Physical appearance, lack of control and powerlessness, feelings of social isolation and concerns that their daughters might develop endometriosis were new areas found to be negatively affected by the condition. CONCLUSIONS: the impact of endometriosis-associated symptoms upon quality of life is multidimensional and more complex than just negatively affecting psychosocial parameters. Conducting in-depth interviews to explore the subjective experiences of patients with endometriosis enabled the diverse areas of quality of life to be identified. Adopting a qualitative methodology is essential for item generation on disease specific health status questionnaires.

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Condition tags

dyspareuniaendometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Quality of Life Surveys and Questionnaires Adult Dyspareunia Dyspareunia Employment Employment Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Laparoscopy Pain Pain Pain Pain Quality of Life Severity of Illness Index

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 (32)

Cited by (50)

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