117 Listening to Women with Endometriosis-associated Sexual Pain: Interim Findings from EndoViews

Endometriosis is a common gynecological condition affecting one in 10 reproductive-aged women. More than half of these women report moderate-to-severe deep dyspareunia, defined as pelvic pain experienced with deep penetration during sexual intercourse. Deep dyspareunia has been described as the “neglected symptom” of endometriosis research. The goal of the study was to understand the experience of dyspareunia for patients with endometriosis. Potential participants were members of a patient data registry who had clinically-suspected or diagnosed endometriosis, were 18 years of age and older, and consented to be contacted for future research. Systematic sampling was used to recruit participants. Inclusion criteria were current or previous sexual pain alone or with a partner; exclusion criteria were never sexually active alone or with a partner, no history of sexual pain alone or with a partner, and non-fluency in English. An interview guide inspired by the SOCRATES mnemonic (Site, Onset, Character, Radiation, Associations, Time course, Exacerbating/relieving factors, Severity) was used to evaluate the nature of sexual pain in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted by phone, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative description of data was performed.