Physical Activity in Women with Endometriosis: Less or More Compared with a Healthy Control?

Maike Sachs, Ioannis Dedes, Samia El-Hadad, Annika Haufe, Dalia Rueff, Alexandra Kohl Schwartz, Felix Haeberlin, Stephanie von Orelli, Markus Eberhard, Brigitte Leeners
International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023 · vol. 20(17) , pp. 6659 · doi:10.3390/ijerph20176659 · PMID:37681799 · W4386223381
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Women with surgically confirmed endometriosis report lower levels of physical activity compared to a healthy control group, with dysmenorrhea and depression associated with decreased activity.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis, i.e., endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus, is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting physical functioning. However, the specific levels of physical activity (PA) in the context of endometriosis and different disease symptoms remain unclear. METHODS: This multi-center, cross-sectional study compared PA levels and influencing factors in endometriosis patients and non-endometriosis patients. Data were collected through questionnaires. Endometriosis was surgically confirmed. A statistical analysis was performed with appropriate tests. RESULTS: The study included 460 women with endometriosis and 460 age-matched women without this condition. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of age, education level, or stable partnership. Women with endometriosis exhibited lower PA levels, practicing fewer hours of sports weekly and climbing fewer stairs daily compared to the control group. These differences remained significant after controlling for confounding factors. Factors such as endometriosis, current dysmenorrhea, and depression were associated with decreased PA. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that women with endometriosis engage in less PA compared to those without this condition. These results highlight the need for interventions to promote increased PA in endometriosis patients and harness the associated health benefits. Further research is warranted to explore the underlying mechanisms and develop tailored exercise therapies for this population.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisdysmenorrhea

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (39)

Cited by (20)

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