An Assessment of Polish Women’s Level of Knowledge about Endometriosis – A Pilot Study

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Due to the exceptional trickiness of symptoms, the most important part is played by proper and exhaustive knowledge, allowing its early detection. The objective of the study was to assess Polish women's awareness of endometriosis. Methods: The pilot studies were performed with the participation of 200 women, in an average age of M=33.65 years ( SD = 11.45), who filled in the authors’ questionnaire related to self-assessment of the level of knowledge about the disease, its symptoms, late effects and directions of a remediation procedure. The statistical analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 suite. It included a frequency analysis, a one-way analysis of variance ANOVA, a single variable regression analysis and Student’s t -test for independent samples. Results: Almost 84% of women had heard about endometriosis, while only 1/3 of them considered their knowledge sufficient or good. Very good knowledge was declared by 4.5% of women, and 16.1% had never heard about it. The knowledge level turned out significantly higher (p = 0.001) among women with medical education. Polish women acquired their knowledge mainly from the Internet and the experience of other women. They see reasons behind their lack of knowledge in the still existing ‘taboo’ related to menstruation, the absence of information in the media and education in schools, which is critical according to 92.4% women. Conclusions: Polish women's level of knowledge about endometriosis is insufficient, which should be changed. Higher awareness is presented by women with medical education, and the higher the level of knowledge, the larger the interest of women in healthy behaviour. Women's studies Health Economics & Outcomes Research endometriosis menstruation knowledge level Introduction Endometriosis is a mild form of the disease of female reproductive organs. It is a chronic, oestrogen-related inflammatory disease characterised by the presence of the endometrium beyond the uterine cavity 1 , 2 , 3 . It is an exceptionally heterogeneous disease, which can cause minor symptoms among some women, and an agonising pain among others, which affects their professional life, social contacts or reproduction 4 , 5 , 6 . Also, the growing intensity of symptoms is often not correlated with the severity of the disease 5 – 8 . One of its most troublesome symptoms is the overwhelming pain, which can occur as nonmenstrual pain in the lesser pelvis (10%-50%), cyclic pain during menstruation (28%-80%), pain during sexual intercourse (12%-40%) or defecation 1,3,6−11 . Over time, the disease leads to infertility, which affects 30%-50% of women 2 , 4 , 7 , 12 . These symptoms affect the physical and emotional well-being of women, seriously disrupting the quality of their lives 13 , 14 , 15 . It is assumed that endometriosis affects approximately 10%-15% of the population of women of childbearing age, which amounts to 176 million of women in the whole world 3 , 7 , 9 , 11 . Most data on this subject originates from American, British, Canadian and Australian epidemiological research 1,5,8,10,15−18 . So far, no wide research has been performed for the area of Poland. In the Ministry of Health’s statistics for 2018, there are only 14,000 women with endometriosis who have been treated in a hospital (3,560 women) or an outpatient clinic (10,461 women) 19 . However, it is discussed unofficially that in Poland the number may be as high as 2 million women 20 . Due to the heterogeneity of symptoms, endometriosis is diagnosed with much delay. In the world, the average time of waiting for a proper diagnosis is currently 8–10 years, depending on the country 3 , 4 , 8 , 10 , 14 , 18 , 21 , 22 . Reasons for this are sought in ignoring its early symptoms, especially those related to menstrual pain 4,8−11 . For centuries, the menstrual pain was a taboo, an embarrassing problem and an element of a woman’s life. There is still a popular opinion that it is a kind of women’s ‘thing’ which does not require the implementation of diagnostics 16 , 19 , and women who complain are perceived as exaggerating the symptoms, or suffering from diseases of a psychosomatic nature 3,23−26 . On the other hand, in accordance with the recommendations of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), in each case of the occurrence of ailments related to the menstrual cycle, after the exclusion of their other causes, endometriosis is to be suspected 2 , 27 . Endometriosis is also a costly problem of public health. The average annual cost of treatment per one patient was calculated in 10 countries at € 9,579. These costs result mainly from surgeries, monitoring examinations, hospitalisation, as well as medical visits, and they grow along with the increasing intensity of endometriosis 1 , 8 , 13 , 21 , 28 . All over the world, actions are taken in order to build social awareness of endometriosis by various social campaigns and actions of the associations of sick women 32 . Since 2014, worldwide EndoMarches have been organised in March, the month of building this awareness, uniting over 60 countries in the world under one common objective: to eliminate the taboo and replace it with dialogue 29 . In 2019, for the first time Polish women also joined the rest of the world, believing that this march can be a good beginning of a change in the approach to women with endometriosis, including in Poland 20 . Due to the scale of the problem, it is becoming a priority to increase social awareness about endometriosis. In the literature, there is available data related to the awareness of other diseases, but there are few papers related to the knowledge about endometriosis in the world, with the total absence of them in relation to Poland 30 – 32 . Seeing an enormous need for changes in this regard, the authors of the present paper committed themselves to assessing women’s level of knowledge about endometriosis. Method The pilot studies were performed with the participation of 232 women who were more than 18 years of age. The final analysis took into account 200 individuals; 32 surveys were incomplete. Due to the lack of a standardised questionnaire, the research tool consisted of the authors’ own survey, created based on the review of the related literature 33 . The research was performed upon an approval of the ethical commission for scientific research of the WSB University in Dąbrowa Górnicza, no. AWSB/KE/02/2020. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The questionnaire was preliminarily tested among 10 people and subsequently, after making the necessary corrections, formatted for the needs of an internet poll and uploaded to the generally available Google Forms Platform, where it was accessible for filling up during a period from 10 June 2020 till 30 September 2020. In order to acquire a sample of the target population, the recruitment of participants proceeded by publishing a link to the questionnaire in a social medium (Facebook). Before collecting the data of the respondents, they were informed about the voluntariness and anonymity of participation in the research. It took about 15–20 minutes to complete the Internet poll. The survey was divided into two parts. The first one involved sociodemographic variables of the participants (age, sex, level and direction of education, occupation and professional status, place of residence). In the second part of the poll, there were 45 questions which had a closed-ended nature, and they provided a possibility to choose one or several answers among the listed options. The questions referred to self-assessment of the level of knowledge about endometriosis, as well as the sources of this knowledge, reasons behind possible lack of knowledge, the age of women who are mainly affected by this disease, the time necessary to make a proper diagnosis, first atypical symptoms and effects of the disease, as well as a need for education in that regard, its forms and benefits provided by it to women. The criterion of inclusion into the research consisted of a female gender, an age above 18 years and filling up the complete questionnaire, while a male gender, an age below 18 years or an incomplete questionnaire meant exclusion from the research. all methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. In order to provide answers to the presented research questions, statistical analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 suite. It enabled the performance of a frequency analysis, a one-way analysis of variance ANOVA, a single variable regression analysis and Student’s t -test for independent samples. In order to determine the relations, an analysis was performed based on cross tabulation and a chi-squared test of independence. The significance level adopted in the present chapter was α = 0.05. Results The highest number of respondents had higher education (48.5%) and lived in urban areas (79%). 76% of women were professionally active; 43.5% of respondents pursued a medical profession (Table 1 ). Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics and the level of knowledge about endometriosis of the surveyed women (n = 200). VARIABLES n % Education level full secondary 48 24 incomplete higher (bachelor’s degree) 31 15.5 higher 97 48.5 none - student 26 13 Education medical 87 43.5 nonmedical 113 56.5 Professional status student/pupil 26 13 professionally active 152 76 unemployed 19 9.5 retired 3 1.5 Place of residence town 158 79 suburban areas 10 5 village 32 16 Degree of knowledge about endometriosis : very good 9 4.5 good 55 27.5 sufficient 61 30.5 satisfactory 18 9 insufficient 26 13 very bad 31 1.5 Sources of knowledge* : Internet 90 45 experience of other women 72 36.1 physician 33 16.3 own experience 31 15.3 Reasons behind the lack of knowledge* : insufficient information in the media 128 64 belief that menstrual pain is a standard attributed to gender, not a symptom 107 53.5 a ‘taboo’ related to menstruation 132 66 no information about the disease from physicians 62 31.4 no education in schools about menstrual pain and women’s diseases 76 38 Aspect of the disease, to which the lack of knowledge was related* : diagnosing time 166 83.2 the occurrence of infertility as a consequence of the untreated disease 145 72.5 menstrual pain as the earliest symptom of the developing disease 127 63.3 the age of women who most frequently suffer from endometriosis 43 21.3 *The number n does not equal 200, due to the possibility of giving more than one answer An analysis of the frequency of answers to questions from the poll related to the knowledge of women about endometriosis indicated that most of the surveyed women (83.9%) knew what endometriosis is, while in terms of self-assessment of the level of their knowledge, the most women stated that it was sufficient or good. On the other hand, the lowest number declared very good or satisfactory knowledge. In turn, 16.1% of respondents had never heard about the disease. Most women acquired their knowledge about the disease from the Internet (45%), less from the experience of other women (36.1%), and the lowest number got it from their own experience (15.3%). The women see the reasons behind the lack of knowledge primarily in an insufficient amount of information on this subject in the media (64%), the belief that menstrual pain is a standard attributed to the gender and not a disease symptom (53.5%), and the widespread ‘taboo’ related to menstruation (66%) (Table 2 ). Table 2 Knowledge about endometriosis depending on medical and nonmedical education Medical ( n = 87) Nonmedical ( n = 113) 95% CI M SD M SD t p LL UL Cohen's d Knowledge about endometriosis 3.63 1.31 2.85 1.40 4.02 0.001 0.40 1.17 0.58 Women’s lack of knowledge involved the fact that diagnosing the disease requires a period of many years (83.2%), the possibility of the occurrence of infertility as a consequence of the untreated disease (72.5%), or finally that the disease primarily affects women in the period of full reproductive maturity (21.3%) (Table 1 ). Among women with medical education, knowledge about the disease turned out to be statistically significantly higher (p = 0.001) than among women lacking such education (Table 2 ). On the other hand, neither the age nor the place of residence were predictors of knowledge about endometriosis - this relationship turned out to be statistically insignificant (Table 3 ). Table 3 Age as the predictor of knowledge about endometriosis B SE Beta t R 2 F (constant) 3.17 0.31 10.17 0.001 *** 0.01 ** Age 0.001 *** 0.01 ** 0.001 *** 0.03 * * - p < 0.05; ** - p < 0.01; *** - p < 0.001 Place of residence as the predictor of knowledge about endometriosis Town ( n = 158) Suburban areas ( n = 10) Village ( n = 29) M SD M SD M SD F p η 2 Knowledge about endometriosis 3.22 1.35 2.50 1.78 3.21 1.54 1.23 0.295 0.01 The approach of the surveyed women to menstrual pain was also analysed. It turned out that 85% of them believe it to be an abnormal symptom, while the remaining ones consider it a standard. An analysis of relations was performed for women who admitted that they experience strong menstrual pains, and had a varying approach to the normality of their occurrence. However, it turned out to be statistically insignificant (Table 4 ). 66.5% of women also admitted that menstruation is still a ‘taboo’ in Poland. Therefore, the relationship between the approach to menstrual pain and the consideration of menstruation as a taboo was also analysed. In this regard, the analysis did not exhibit statistical significance either (Table 4 ). Table 4 Relationships between the occurrence of menstrual pain and normality of the course of menstruation/a taboo subject. Relationship between the occurrence of painful menstruation and consideration of this pain as a normal process The occurrence of painful menstruation Continuous menstrual pains are - normal Continuous menstrual pains are - abnormal Total N % N % N % Yes 8 26.7 57 33.5 65 32.5 No 22 73.3 113 66.5 135 67.5 Total 30 100 170 100 200 100 χ 2 (1) = 0.55; p = 0.303 Relationship between considering menstrual pains normal or not and menstruation itself as a taboo Menstruation is still a ‘taboo’ in Poland Continuous Continuous Total menstrual pains - normal menstrual pains - abnormal N % N % N % Yes 21 70 112 65.9 133 66.5 No 9 30 58 34.1 67 33.5 Total 30 100 170 100 200 100 χ 2 (1) = 0.19; p = 0.415 32.5% of the surveyed women experiencing strong menstrual pains admitted that they had accepted and ignored them so far, mainly due to shame, embarrassment and fear of ridicule during possible reporting of such concerns to a physician (Table 5 ). As many as 90.5% claimed that such an approach towards menstruation should change. 92.4% of women also think that education about endometriosis is necessary, and that it could result in a number of benefits (Table 5 ). They also believe that, since menstrual pains experienced already by young girls are the first symptom which can indicate the presence of the disease, then education in that regard should be primarily handled by schools, followed by the media and physicians (Table 5 ). Table 5 Reasons behind the acceptance of menstrual pain, benefits from education and its indicated sources % Reasons behind the acceptance and ignorance of menstrual pain shame 53.3 embarrassment 49.2 fear of ridicule 68.3 Benefits resulting from education about endometriosis more careful observation of signals sent by one’s own body 83.7 consultation of one’s concerning symptoms with a physician 68.8 prevention of the deteriorating quality of life for women suffering from the pain 60.4 decreasing the percentage of women with infertility 54.5 increasing the awareness that it is a disease, not an inherent feature of women 23.2 Indicated sources of education school 83.2 media 63.9 physicians 53.5 *The number n does not equal 200, due to the possibility of giving more than one answer Discussion Endometriosis is a disease with an increasing frequency of occurrence in the populations of all countries in the world. Its early diagnosis gives women a chance to return to normal everyday functioning without pain. The lack of knowledge about its symptoms and effects, and thus their frequent ignorance, delays visits to medical specialists, and therefore prolongs the making of a proper diagnosis and the initiation of treatment. The authors’ own research results indicated that, although most women declared that they had heard about the existence of endometriosis, their knowledge in this regard is definitely inefficient, and 16.1% of them lack it entirely. In the research of Moradi M. et al., covering 35 women suffering from endometriosis, many of them had never heard about this disease before being diagnosed either 21 . On the other hand, 52% of those surveyed by Shadbolt et al. had heard about the existence of endometriosis 33 . Similar observations were made by Bush D. et al. while performing research in New Zealand in 2015, where 32% of students from Canterbury and 18% in Hawkes Bay were aware of its existence 27 . In our research, a higher level of knowledge was demonstrated by women with medical education, while neither the age nor the place of residence were predictors of knowledge about endometriosis. Among women who claimed that they had heard about the disease, most of them had learned about it from the Internet, or from other women suffering from it. Only some of them acquired this knowledge from a physician. Similar answers were provided by women surveyed in the paper of Facchin F. et al., who, due to unpleasant contacts and relations with physicians, would rather use the Internet to acquire information about the disease 23 . Women with endometriosis, especially with pain symptoms present during menstruation, face a social stigma and a wide range of various reactions of physicians when looking for medical help in that regard. Consideration of the symptoms of endometriosis as ‘a part of the normal life of women’ seems to be an experience shared by women with endometriosis all over the world. This is mentioned in the papers of Grundström H. 4 , Moradi M. et al. 21 , Culley L. et al. 18 , as well as Riazi H. et al. 34 Grundström H. et al. 4 , as well as Facchin F. et al. 23 pointed out that women reporting to physicians due to menstrual pain were facing the lack of knowledge, empathy or support, and they were treated by the medical personnel with ignorance and incredulity. The women felt embarrassed when they were describing to the physicians how the pain and bleeding were limiting and controlling their everyday lives. In the authors’ own research, 32.5% of women experiencing their own strong menstrual pains also ignored the problem, mainly due to fear of ridicule, shame and embarrassment. Infertility turned out to be the most concerning consequence of the untreated disease both among those women who declared at least sufficient knowledge about the disease, as well as those who lacked this knowledge. Navarria-Forney, I. et al. also showed that most women (96%) were worried about the impact of endometriosis on fertility. Importantly, most of them considered themselves insufficiently informed about the possibilities of maintaining fertility 35 . Almost all of the surveyed women (92.4%) were also interested in extending their knowledge about the disease. They indicated that education should be handled primarily by schools, followed by the media and physicians. In the papers of Shadbolt et al., the necessity of education, especially among teenagers, is expressed by as many as 89% of the surveyed women, while any health-promoting actions should be directed towards sources preferred especially by young women: schools (40%), the Internet (22%) and magazines (13%). Through education, the participants in the studies would like to learn about the symptoms, risk factors and treatment of the disease, similarly to the respondents from our research 32 . The key significance of education on menstrual pain experienced by teenage women was also described by DiVasta A.D. et al., who claimed that the promotion of proper behaviour could be related to care and a decrease in the delays of endometriosis diagnostics 11 . There is also strong suggestive evidence that a consistently managed programme of education on menstrual health in schools increases the awareness of teenage girls about endometriosis. This was proven by researchers from New Zealand, who ran an audit of education programmes related to menstrual health and endometriosis introduced in secondary schools, and conducted observations regarding the number of young women reporting to physicians for this reason. It turned out that in the region in which the educational programme was consistently pursued, the awareness of girls regarding endometriosis was 32%. Moreover, a shift was also observed in terms of young women’s earlier contacts with specialised health care 27 . A similar opinion was expressed by respondents in the papers of Hudelist G. et al. 22 and Moradi M. et al. 21 An outline of a remediation programme should be created based on the yielded research results, the priority of which will be to decrease the number of cases of endometriosis in Poland, or at least its effective diagnosing and treatment. Conclusions Polish women's level of knowledge about endometriosis is insufficient, but higher among women with medical education. Furthermore, it has been concluded that the higher the level of knowledge, the larger the signs and interest of women in healthy behaviour. The indication of symptoms and effects of the untreated disease turned out to be a sufficient reason to convince women to consult a physician in a situation of having them personally. The research will continue with a larger target group, since there is a need for wide investigation of the subject and education in that regard. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate The research was performed upon an approval of the ethical commission for scientific research of the WSB University in Dąbrowa Górnicza, no. AWSB/KE/02/2020. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Consent for publication Not applicable. Availability of data and materials The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding Not applicable Authors' contributions J.Sz - project development, data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing M.D-G - data collection, data analysis Both authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Acknowledgements Not applicable References Andysz A, Jacukowicz A, Merecz-Kot D, Najder A. Endometriosis – the challenge for occupational life of diagnosed women: a review of quantitative studiem. Medycyna Pracy 2018; 69 (6): 663–671. Dunselman GAJ, Vermeulen N, Becker C, Calhaz-Jorge C, D’Hooghe T, De Bie B, et al. ESHRE guideline: Management of women with endometriosis. Hum Reprod. 2014; 29 (3): 400–412. Bulletti C, Coccia ME, Battistoni S, Borini A. Endometriosis and infertility. 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Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Dec, 2021 Read the published version in BMC Women's Health → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revision 24 Aug, 2021 Reviews received at journal 23 Jun, 2021 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Jun, 2021 Reviewers invited by journal 17 Jun, 2021 Editor assigned by journal 17 Jun, 2021 Editor invited by journal 16 Jun, 2021 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Jun, 2021 First submitted to journal 08 Jun, 2021 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-601895","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":33677348,"identity":"8843a931-0a2a-492b-ac80-b9b0a4ef24aa","order_by":0,"name":"Joanna Szymańska","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA80lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYoQ4KB+QCEdwCIHxCnhS0BoSWBGOskGHgMiNPC3H/8mdSNmjv2ku1nvkn+3MEgx3cjge0BPi2MMxLSpHOOPUuczZO7TZr3DIOx5I0EdgP8WhiOSeewHU6QY8jddpuxjSFxA9AWCbxa+g+2Sef8O2wvx//m2c2fbQz1hLU0JLNJ57YdZpwtkcN2g7eNIcGAoJYZaczWuX2HE2fOeGb+m/eMhOHMMw/b8frFsP/4w9s53w7bS5xPfmz4c4eNPN/x5GMPPuDT0sDAIoHEB7GBgYAPyAOjBsNINrxaRsEoGAWjYMQBAFgRU6kFROk+AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"WSB University, Dąbrowa Górnicza","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joanna","middleName":"","lastName":"Szymańska","suffix":""},{"id":33677349,"identity":"2f1173c7-183b-4c26-a9e7-51834582bed7","order_by":1,"name":"Magdalena Dąbrowska-Galas","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Medical University of Silesia, Katowice","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Magdalena","middleName":"","lastName":"Dąbrowska-Galas","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2021-06-08 07:59:06","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-601895/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-601895/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01556-2","type":"published","date":"2021-12-01T12:51:07+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":16245424,"identity":"e0d60dcc-be4e-409e-9143-a852e3021d82","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-12-07 12:51:11","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":432324,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-601895/v1/a574219d-bab5-44c3-9e6e-7b422b2a1e4f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eAn Assessment of Polish Women’s Level of Knowledge about Endometriosis – A Pilot Study\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":" \u003cp\u003eEndometriosis is a mild form of the disease of female reproductive organs. It is a chronic, oestrogen-related inflammatory disease characterised by the presence of the endometrium beyond the uterine cavity\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. It is an exceptionally heterogeneous disease, which can cause minor symptoms among some women, and an agonising pain among others, which affects their professional life, social contacts or reproduction\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Also, the growing intensity of symptoms is often not correlated with the severity of the disease\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR6 CR7\" citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. One of its most troublesome symptoms is the overwhelming pain, which can occur as nonmenstrual pain in the lesser pelvis (10%-50%), cyclic pain during menstruation (28%-80%), pain during sexual intercourse (12%-40%) or defecation\u003csup\u003e1,3,6\u0026minus;11\u003c/sup\u003e. Over time, the disease leads to infertility, which affects 30%-50% of women\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. These symptoms affect the physical and emotional well-being of women, seriously disrupting the quality of their lives\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt is assumed that endometriosis affects approximately 10%-15% of the population of women of childbearing age, which amounts to 176\u0026nbsp;million of women in the whole world\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Most data on this subject originates from American, British, Canadian and Australian epidemiological research\u003csup\u003e1,5,8,10,15\u0026minus;18\u003c/sup\u003e. So far, no wide research has been performed for the area of Poland. In the Ministry of Health\u0026rsquo;s statistics for 2018, there are only 14,000 women with endometriosis who have been treated in a hospital (3,560 women) or an outpatient clinic (10,461 women)\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. However, it is discussed unofficially that in Poland the number may be as high as 2\u0026nbsp;million women\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDue to the heterogeneity of symptoms, endometriosis is diagnosed with much delay. In the world, the average time of waiting for a proper diagnosis is currently 8\u0026ndash;10 years, depending on the country\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Reasons for this are sought in ignoring its early symptoms, especially those related to menstrual pain\u003csup\u003e4,8\u0026minus;11\u003c/sup\u003e. For centuries, the menstrual pain was a taboo, an embarrassing problem and an element of a woman\u0026rsquo;s life. There is still a popular opinion that it is a kind of women\u0026rsquo;s \u0026lsquo;thing\u0026rsquo; which does not require the implementation of diagnostics\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, and women who complain are perceived as exaggerating the symptoms, or suffering from diseases of a psychosomatic nature\u003csup\u003e3,23\u0026minus;26\u003c/sup\u003e. On the other hand, in accordance with the recommendations of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), in each case of the occurrence of ailments related to the menstrual cycle, after the exclusion of their other causes, endometriosis is to be suspected\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEndometriosis is also a costly problem of public health. The average annual cost of treatment per one patient was calculated in 10 countries at \u0026euro; 9,579. These costs result mainly from surgeries, monitoring examinations, hospitalisation, as well as medical visits, and they grow along with the increasing intensity of endometriosis\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAll over the world, actions are taken in order to build social awareness of endometriosis by various social campaigns and actions of the associations of sick women\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Since 2014, worldwide EndoMarches have been organised in March, the month of building this awareness, uniting over 60 countries in the world under one common objective: to eliminate the taboo and replace it with dialogue\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. In 2019, for the first time Polish women also joined the rest of the world, believing that this march can be a good beginning of a change in the approach to women with endometriosis, including in Poland\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDue to the scale of the problem, it is becoming a priority to increase social awareness about endometriosis. In the literature, there is available data related to the awareness of other diseases, but there are few papers related to the knowledge about endometriosis in the world, with the total absence of them in relation to Poland\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR31\" citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Seeing an enormous need for changes in this regard, the authors of the present paper committed themselves to assessing women\u0026rsquo;s level of knowledge about endometriosis.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Method","content":" \u003cp\u003eThe pilot studies were performed with the participation of 232 women who were more than 18 years of age. The final analysis took into account 200 individuals; 32 surveys were incomplete. Due to the lack of a standardised questionnaire, the research tool consisted of the authors\u0026rsquo; own survey, created based on the review of the related literature\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe research was performed upon an approval of the ethical commission for scientific research of the WSB University in Dąbrowa G\u0026oacute;rnicza, no. AWSB/KE/02/2020. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe questionnaire was preliminarily tested among 10 people and subsequently, after making the necessary corrections, formatted for the needs of an internet poll and uploaded to the generally available Google Forms Platform, where it was accessible for filling up during a period from 10 June 2020 till 30 September 2020. In order to acquire a sample of the target population, the recruitment of participants proceeded by publishing a link to the questionnaire in a social medium (Facebook). Before collecting the data of the respondents, they were informed about the voluntariness and anonymity of participation in the research. It took about 15\u0026ndash;20 minutes to complete the Internet poll.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe survey was divided into two parts. The first one involved sociodemographic variables of the participants (age, sex, level and direction of education, occupation and professional status, place of residence). In the second part of the poll, there were 45 questions which had a closed-ended nature, and they provided a possibility to choose one or several answers among the listed options. The questions referred to self-assessment of the level of knowledge about endometriosis, as well as the sources of this knowledge, reasons behind possible lack of knowledge, the age of women who are mainly affected by this disease, the time necessary to make a proper diagnosis, first atypical symptoms and effects of the disease, as well as a need for education in that regard, its forms and benefits provided by it to women.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe criterion of inclusion into the research consisted of a female gender, an age above 18 years and filling up the complete questionnaire, while a male gender, an age below 18 years or an incomplete questionnaire meant exclusion from the research. all methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn order to provide answers to the presented research questions, statistical analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 suite. It enabled the performance of a frequency analysis, a one-way analysis of variance ANOVA, a single variable regression analysis and Student\u0026rsquo;s \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e-test for independent samples. In order to determine the relations, an analysis was performed based on cross tabulation and a chi-squared test of independence. The significance level adopted in the present chapter was α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Results","content":" \u003cp\u003eThe highest number of respondents had higher education (48.5%) and lived in urban areas (79%). 76% of women were professionally active; 43.5% of respondents pursued a medical profession (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSociodemographic characteristics and the level of knowledge about endometriosis of the surveyed women (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;200).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVARIABLES\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003en\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEducation level\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003efull secondary\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eincomplete higher (bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ehigher\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e97\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e48.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enone - student\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEducation\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emedical\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e87\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enonmedical\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e113\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e56.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eProfessional status\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003estudent/pupil\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eprofessionally active\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e152\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eunemployed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eretired\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePlace of residence\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003etown\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e158\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e79\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003esuburban areas\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003evillage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDegree of knowledge about endometriosis\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003every good\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003egood\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003esufficient\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e61\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003esatisfactory\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003einsufficient\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003every bad\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSources of knowledge*\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInternet\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eexperience of other women\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e72\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ephysician\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eown experience\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReasons behind the lack of knowledge*\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003einsufficient information in the media\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e128\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ebelief that menstrual pain is a standard attributed to gender, not a symptom\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e107\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e53.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ea \u0026lsquo;taboo\u0026rsquo; related to menstruation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e132\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eno information about the disease from physicians\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e62\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eno education in schools about menstrual pain and women\u0026rsquo;s diseases\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAspect of the disease, to which the lack of knowledge was related*\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ediagnosing time\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e166\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e83.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ethe occurrence of infertility as a consequence of the untreated disease\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e145\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e72.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emenstrual pain as the earliest symptom of the developing disease\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e127\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e63.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ethe age of women who most frequently suffer from endometriosis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"3\"\u003e*The number n does not equal 200, due to the possibility of giving more than one answer\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn analysis of the frequency of answers to questions from the poll related to the knowledge of women about endometriosis indicated that most of the surveyed women (83.9%) knew what endometriosis is, while in terms of self-assessment of the level of their knowledge, the most women stated that it was sufficient or good. On the other hand, the lowest number declared very good or satisfactory knowledge. In turn, 16.1% of respondents had never heard about the disease.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMost women acquired their knowledge about the disease from the Internet (45%), less from the experience of other women (36.1%), and the lowest number got it from their own experience (15.3%). The women see the reasons behind the lack of knowledge primarily in an insufficient amount of information on this subject in the media (64%), the belief that menstrual pain is a standard attributed to the gender and not a disease symptom (53.5%), and the widespread \u0026lsquo;taboo\u0026rsquo; related to menstruation (66%) (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKnowledge about endometriosis depending on medical and nonmedical education\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;87)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNonmedical\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;113)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e95% \u003cem\u003eCI\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLL\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUL\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCohen's d\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKnowledge about endometriosis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.63\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen\u0026rsquo;s lack of knowledge involved the fact that diagnosing the disease requires a period of many years (83.2%), the possibility of the occurrence of infertility as a consequence of the untreated disease (72.5%), or finally that the disease primarily affects women in the period of full reproductive maturity (21.3%) (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmong women with medical education, knowledge about the disease turned out to be statistically significantly higher (p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.001) than among women lacking such education (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). On the other hand, neither the age nor the place of residence were predictors of knowledge about endometriosis - this relationship turned out to be statistically insignificant (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge as the predictor of knowledge about endometriosis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eB\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeta\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(constant)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.01\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.01\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.03\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"7\"\u003e* - \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05; ** - \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01; *** - \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePlace of residence as the predictor of knowledge about endometriosis\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"No\" id=\"Taba\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTown\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;158)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSuburban areas\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVillage\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;29)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eη\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKnowledge about endometriosis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.54\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.295\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe approach of the surveyed women to menstrual pain was also analysed. It turned out that 85% of them believe it to be an abnormal symptom, while the remaining ones consider it a standard. An analysis of relations was performed for women who admitted that they experience strong menstrual pains, and had a varying approach to the normality of their occurrence. However, it turned out to be statistically insignificant (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). 66.5% of women also admitted that menstruation is still a \u0026lsquo;taboo\u0026rsquo; in Poland. Therefore, the relationship between the approach to menstrual pain and the consideration of menstruation as a taboo was also analysed. In this regard, the analysis did not exhibit statistical significance either (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelationships between the occurrence of menstrual pain and normality of the course of menstruation/a taboo subject.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"14\"\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"14\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelationship between the occurrence of painful menstruation and consideration of this pain as a normal process\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe occurrence of painful menstruation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eContinuous\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003emenstrual pains are - normal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eContinuous\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003emenstrual pains are - abnormal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e73.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e113\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e135\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e67.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e30\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e100\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e170\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e100\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e200\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e100\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"14\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e(1)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.55; \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.303\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"14\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelationship between considering menstrual pains normal or not and menstruation itself as a taboo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" morerows=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMenstruation is still a \u0026lsquo;taboo\u0026rsquo; in Poland\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eContinuous\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eContinuous\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emenstrual pains - normal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emenstrual pains - abnormal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c13\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e70\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e112\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c13\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e133\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c13\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e67\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e30\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e100\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e170\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e100\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c13\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e200\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e100\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"14\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eχ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e(1)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.19; \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.415\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.5% of the surveyed women experiencing strong menstrual pains admitted that they had accepted and ignored them so far, mainly due to shame, embarrassment and fear of ridicule during possible reporting of such concerns to a physician (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). As many as 90.5% claimed that such an approach towards menstruation should change. 92.4% of women also think that education about endometriosis is necessary, and that it could result in a number of benefits (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). They also believe that, since menstrual pains experienced already by young girls are the first symptom which can indicate the presence of the disease, then education in that regard should be primarily handled by schools, followed by the media and physicians (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eReasons behind the acceptance of menstrual pain, benefits from education and its indicated sources\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReasons behind the acceptance and ignorance of menstrual pain\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eshame\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e53.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eembarrassment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e49.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003efear of ridicule\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBenefits resulting from education about endometriosis\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emore careful observation of signals sent by one\u0026rsquo;s own body\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e83.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003econsultation of one\u0026rsquo;s concerning symptoms with a physician\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eprevention of the deteriorating quality of life for women suffering from the pain\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003edecreasing the percentage of women with infertility\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e54.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eincreasing the awareness that it is a disease, not an inherent feature of women\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIndicated sources of education\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eschool\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e83.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emedia\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e63.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ephysicians\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e53.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"2\"\u003e*The number n does not equal 200, due to the possibility of giving more than one answer\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Discussion","content":" \u003cp\u003eEndometriosis is a disease with an increasing frequency of occurrence in the populations of all countries in the world. Its early diagnosis gives women a chance to return to normal everyday functioning without pain. The lack of knowledge about its symptoms and effects, and thus their frequent ignorance, delays visits to medical specialists, and therefore prolongs the making of a proper diagnosis and the initiation of treatment.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe authors\u0026rsquo; own research results indicated that, although most women declared that they had heard about the existence of endometriosis, their knowledge in this regard is definitely inefficient, and 16.1% of them lack it entirely. In the research of Moradi M. et al., covering 35 women suffering from endometriosis, many of them had never heard about this disease before being diagnosed either\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. On the other hand, 52% of those surveyed by Shadbolt et al. had heard about the existence of endometriosis\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Similar observations were made by Bush D. et al. while performing research in New Zealand in 2015, where 32% of students from Canterbury and 18% in Hawkes Bay were aware of its existence\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn our research, a higher level of knowledge was demonstrated by women with medical education, while neither the age nor the place of residence were predictors of knowledge about endometriosis. Among women who claimed that they had heard about the disease, most of them had learned about it from the Internet, or from other women suffering from it. Only some of them acquired this knowledge from a physician. Similar answers were provided by women surveyed in the paper of Facchin F. et al., who, due to unpleasant contacts and relations with physicians, would rather use the Internet to acquire information about the disease\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen with endometriosis, especially with pain symptoms present during menstruation, face a social stigma and a wide range of various reactions of physicians when looking for medical help in that regard. Consideration of the symptoms of endometriosis as \u0026lsquo;a part of the normal life of women\u0026rsquo; seems to be an experience shared by women with endometriosis all over the world. This is mentioned in the papers of Grundstr\u0026ouml;m H.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, Moradi M. et al.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, Culley L. et al.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, as well as Riazi H. et al.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e Grundstr\u0026ouml;m H. et al.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, as well as Facchin F. et al.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e pointed out that women reporting to physicians due to menstrual pain were facing the lack of knowledge, empathy or support, and they were treated by the medical personnel with ignorance and incredulity. The women felt embarrassed when they were describing to the physicians how the pain and bleeding were limiting and controlling their everyday lives. In the authors\u0026rsquo; own research, 32.5% of women experiencing their own strong menstrual pains also ignored the problem, mainly due to fear of ridicule, shame and embarrassment.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInfertility turned out to be the most concerning consequence of the untreated disease both among those women who declared at least sufficient knowledge about the disease, as well as those who lacked this knowledge. Navarria-Forney, I. et al. also showed that most women (96%) were worried about the impact of endometriosis on fertility. Importantly, most of them considered themselves insufficiently informed about the possibilities of maintaining fertility\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlmost all of the surveyed women (92.4%) were also interested in extending their knowledge about the disease. They indicated that education should be handled primarily by schools, followed by the media and physicians. In the papers of Shadbolt et al., the necessity of education, especially among teenagers, is expressed by as many as 89% of the surveyed women, while any health-promoting actions should be directed towards sources preferred especially by young women: schools (40%), the Internet (22%) and magazines (13%). Through education, the participants in the studies would like to learn about the symptoms, risk factors and treatment of the disease, similarly to the respondents from our research\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. The key significance of education on menstrual pain experienced by teenage women was also described by DiVasta A.D. et al., who claimed that the promotion of proper behaviour could be related to care and a decrease in the delays of endometriosis diagnostics\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere is also strong suggestive evidence that a consistently managed programme of education on menstrual health in schools increases the awareness of teenage girls about endometriosis. This was proven by researchers from New Zealand, who ran an audit of education programmes related to menstrual health and endometriosis introduced in secondary schools, and conducted observations regarding the number of young women reporting to physicians for this reason. It turned out that in the region in which the educational programme was consistently pursued, the awareness of girls regarding endometriosis was 32%. Moreover, a shift was also observed in terms of young women\u0026rsquo;s earlier contacts with specialised health care\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. A similar opinion was expressed by respondents in the papers of Hudelist G. et al.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e and Moradi M. et al.\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn outline of a remediation programme should be created based on the yielded research results, the priority of which will be to decrease the number of cases of endometriosis in Poland, or at least its effective diagnosing and treatment.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Conclusions","content":" \u003cp\u003ePolish women's level of knowledge about endometriosis is insufficient, but higher among women with medical education. Furthermore, it has been concluded that the higher the level of knowledge, the larger the signs and interest of women in healthy behaviour. The indication of symptoms and effects of the untreated disease turned out to be a sufficient reason to convince women to consult a physician in a situation of having them personally. The research will continue with a larger target group, since there is a need for wide investigation of the subject and education in that regard.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe research was performed upon an approval of the ethical commission for scientific research of the WSB University in Dąbrowa G\u0026oacute;rnicza, no. AWSB/KE/02/2020. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Not applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFunding \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; contributions\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJ.Sz \u0026nbsp;- project development, data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eM.D-G - data collection, data analysis\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth authors have read and approved the final manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgements \u0026nbsp;\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAndysz A, Jacukowicz A, Merecz-Kot D, Najder A. 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F1000Res. 2020; 9:83.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDi Guardo F, Shah M, Cerana MC, Biondi A, Karaman E, T\u0026ouml;r\u0026ouml;k P, et al. Management of women affected by endometriosis: Are we stepping forward? Journal of Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Disorders. 2019; 11(2): 77\u0026ndash;84.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLamvu G, Antunez-Flores O, Orady M, Schneider B. Path to diagnosis and women\u0026rsquo;s perspectives on the impact of endometriosis pain. Journal of Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Disorders. 2020; 12(1) 16\u0026ndash;25.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDiVasta AD, Vitonis AF, Laufer MR, Missmer SA. Spectrum of symptoms in women diagnosed with endometriosis during adolescence vs adulthood. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018; 218:324.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFerrell K, Rohlfs A, Hansen K, Von Wald T. Endometriosis and Infertility. 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Hum Reprod Update. 2013; 19 (6): 625\u0026ndash;639.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSejm of the Republic of Poland: The Ministry of Health\u0026rsquo;s response to parliamentary question no. 27780 about medical care for endometriosis patients; [updated on 28 November 2020; cited on 3 December 2020]; Available from:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ehttp://\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003eorka2.sejm.gov.pl/INT8.nsf/klucz/ATTB8QJZE/%24FILE/i27780-o1.pdf\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe ENDOMETRIOZA portal; [updated on 20 November 2020; cited on 2 December 2020]; Available from: http://endometriozapolska.pl\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMoradi M, Parker M, Sneddon A, Lopez V, Ellwood D. Impact of endometriosis on women\u0026rsquo;s lives: A qualitative study. BMC Women\u0026rsquo;s Health. 2014; 14: 1\u0026ndash;12.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHudelist G, Fritzer N, Thomas A, Niehues C, Oppelt P, Haas D, et al. Diagnostic delay for endometriosis in Austria and Germany: causes and possible consequences. Hum Reprod. 2012;27(12):3412\u0026ndash;3416.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFacchin F, Saita E, Barbara G, Dridi D, Vercellini P. \u0026ldquo;Free butterflies will come out of these deep wounds\u0026rdquo;: A grounded theory of how endometriosis affects women\u0026rsquo;s psychological health. J Health Psychol. 2018; 23 (4): 538\u0026ndash;549.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSurrey E, Soliman AM, Trenz H, Blauer-Peterson C, Sluis A. Impact of Endometriosis Diagnostic Delays on Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs. Adv Ther. 2020; 37(3): 1087\u0026ndash;1099.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSeear K. The etiquette of endometriosis: Stigmatisation, menstrual concealment and the diagnostic delay. Soc Sci Med. 2009; 69 (8):, 1220\u0026ndash;1227.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJohnston-Robledo I, Chrisler JC. The Menstrual Mark: Menstruation as Social Stigma. Sex Roles. 2013; 68:9\u0026ndash;18.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEuropean Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Guideline on the management of women with endometriosis: [updated on 1 December 2020; cited on 8 December 2020]; Available from: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://www.eshre.eu/guidelines\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBush D, Brick E, East MC, Johnson N. \u003cstrong\u003eEndometriosis education in schools: A New Zealand model examining the impact of an education program in schools on early recognition of symptoms suggesting endometriosis\u003c/strong\u003e. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 2017; \u003cstrong\u003e57\u003c/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e452\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026lt;background-color:#D279FF;bdirection:rtl;\u0026gt;\u0026ndash;\u0026lt;/background-color:#D279FF;bdirection:rtl;\u0026gt;\u003cstrong\u003e457\u003c/strong\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWorldwide EndoMarch; [updated on 28 November 2020; cited on 3 December 2020]; Available from: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://endomarch.org/\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStandyło A, Obuchowska A, W\u0026oacute;jcik J, Ozga A, Obuchowska K. Assessment of women\u0026apos;s knowledge about cytology as a prophylactic method in cervical cancer. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2020;10(9):835\u0026ndash;845.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWęgorowski P, Michalik J, Gogułka E, Rząca M, Pietraszek A. Assessment of women\u0026apos;s knowledge about breast cancer prevention. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2017;7(8):593\u0026ndash;606.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBogusz R,Humeniuk E, Walecka I, Bojar I. Level and conditioning of knowledge about breast cancer displayed by women in perimenopausal age. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2016; 23 (2): 324\u0026ndash;328\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShadbolt NA, Parker MA, Orthia LA. Communicating endometriosis with young women to decrease diagnosis time. Health Promot J Austr 2013; 24(2):151\u0026ndash;154.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRiazi H, Tehranian N, Ziaei S, Mohammadi E, Hajizadeh E, Montazeri A. Patients\u0026rsquo; and physicians\u0026rsquo; descriptions of occurrence and diagnosis of endometriosis: A qualitative study from Iran. BMC Women\u0026rsquo;s Health, 2014; 14(103): 1\u0026ndash;9.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNavarria-Forney I, B\u0026eacute;nard J, Mazloum A, Pluchino N, Streuli I. A web-based survey of reproductive awareness and choices in women with endometriosis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol, 2020; 251: 106\u0026ndash;113.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-womens-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bmwh","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Women's Health](http://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/bmwh/default.aspx","title":"BMC Women's Health","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"endometriosis, menstruation, knowledge level","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-601895/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-601895/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction:\u003c/strong\u003e Insufficient knowledge about endometriosis among women is one of the causes of its delayed diagnoses. Due to the exceptional trickiness of symptoms, the most important part is played by proper and exhaustive knowledge, allowing its early detection. The objective of the study was to assess Polish women's awareness of endometriosis.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e The pilot studies were performed with the participation of 200 women, in an average age of M=33.65 years (\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e = 11.45), who filled in the authors’ questionnaire related to self-assessment of the level of knowledge about the disease, its symptoms, late effects and directions of a remediation procedure. The statistical analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 suite. It included a frequency analysis, a one-way analysis of variance ANOVA, a single variable regression analysis and Student’s \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e-test for independent samples.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e Almost 84% of women had heard about endometriosis, while only 1/3 of them considered their knowledge sufficient or good. Very good knowledge was declared by 4.5% of women, and 16.1% had never heard about it. The knowledge level turned out significantly higher (p = 0.001) among women with medical education. Polish women acquired their knowledge mainly from the Internet and the experience of other women. They see reasons behind their lack of knowledge in the still existing ‘taboo’ related to menstruation, the absence of information in the media and education in schools, which is critical according to 92.4% women.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions:\u003c/strong\u003e Polish women's level of knowledge about endometriosis is insufficient, which should be changed. Higher awareness is presented by women with medical education, and the higher the level of knowledge, the larger the interest of women in healthy behaviour.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"An Assessment of Polish Women’s Level of Knowledge about Endometriosis – A Pilot Study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2021-06-18 18:42:38","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-601895/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revision","date":"2021-08-24T04:42:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2021-06-23T09:09:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"e888d29f-f893-4123-a710-80a0ec0136fc","date":"2021-06-17T18:08:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2021-06-17T17:55:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2021-06-17T05:15:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2021-06-16T20:52:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2021-06-16T20:50:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Women's Health","date":"2021-06-08T07:50:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-womens-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bmwh","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Women's Health](http://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/bmwh/default.aspx","title":"BMC Women's Health","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d43aa312-edb2-41eb-b7cc-3f497d8629c8","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 18th, 2021","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":5109022,"name":"Women's studies"},{"id":5109023,"name":"Health Economics \u0026 Outcomes Research"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2021-12-07T12:51:07+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-601895","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01556-2","journal":{"identity":"bmc-womens-health","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Women's Health"},"publishedOn":"2021-12-01 12:51:07","publishedOnDateReadable":"December 1st, 2021"},"versionCreatedAt":"2021-06-18 18:42:38","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s12905-021-01556-2","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01556-2","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-601895","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-601895","identity":"rs-601895","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"B-jG_2CBjPDmsCi4Wdhf-","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}