The Cost of Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Burden in New Zealand (Aotearoa): Results from a Nationwide Survey

Jordan Tewhaiti-Smith, Mark Gannott, Alex Semprini, Deborah Bush, Augustus Anderson, Allie Eathorne, Neil Johnson, Jane E. Girling, Michael East, Joy Marriott, Ruth Fisher, Mike Armour
In: Women · 2025 · vol. 5(4) , pp. 47 · doi:10.3390/women5040047 · W7111133474
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This nationwide survey estimated the economic burden of endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain in New Zealand, finding that productivity losses are the primary cost driver and attributed costs range from NZD 59,406 to NZD 174,130 per person annually.

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Abstract

Endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain (CPP) impose substantial economic burden in New Zealand, yet no national cost-of-illness (COI) model currently exists. This study provides the first nationwide estimate using a modified World-Endometriosis-Research-Foundation (WERF) EndoCost protocol incorporating direct healthcare, productivity, and carer costs. An attribution correction model was applied to account for diagnostic overlap, assigning 43.4% of CPP cases to endometriosis. Attribution-adjusted annual per capita costs were INT 97,497 (NZD 174,130) for endometriosis and INT 33,262 (NZD 59,406) for CPP. Macroeconomic costs ranged from INT 12.7B to 17.7B (NZD 22.6B–31.7B) per annum, depending on prevalence. Productivity losses were the primary cost driver, accounting for 65% of endometriosis and 75% of CPP cost. The unattributed lifetime burden was INT 1.96M (NZD 3.50M) per person for endometriosis and INT 1.54M (NZD 2.74M) per person with CPP. This reflects total economic burden over a 34.5-year working lifespan, adjusted for labor-force participation. Diagnostic delays and health system inefficiencies such as poor healthcare access and suboptimal symptom management are likely to be the most significant modifiable contributor to this burden. Addressing this will require investment in healthcare provision and symptom management alongside equitable access to fertility care.

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

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 (26)

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