Factors associated with chronic pelvic pain in women with endometriosis: A national study on clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyles, quality of life, and perceptions of quality of care, during the COVID-19 pandemic

Vincenza Cofini, Mario Muselli, Emiliano Petrucci, Chiara Lolli, Erika Pelaccia, Maurizio Guido, Franco Marinangeli, Leila Fabiani, Stefano Necozione
Women's health (London, England) · 2024 · vol. 20 , pp. 17455057241227361 · doi:10.1177/17455057241227361 · PMID:38449294 · PMC10919124 · W4392565761
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 1 in-corpus citation
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Chronic pelvic pain in women with endometriosis during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with pelvic floor disorders, dyspareunia, adhesions, delayed diagnosis, and marital status, but not lifestyle or perceived quality of care.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a persistent inflammatory condition that affects women of reproductive age and causes pelvic pain. Chronic pelvic pain is a chronic regional pain syndrome involving the pelvic area. OBJECTIVES: This survey aimed to characterize the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyles, quality of life, and perceptions of quality of care in women with endometriosis who reported chronic pelvic pain during the Covid pandemic. DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among the Italian population from July to September 2021. METHODS: Snowball sampling was used to interview a large sample of adult women who reported a diagnosis of endometriosis, through a self-reported questionnaire. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the factors associated with chronic pelvic pain. The primary outcome was describing women who reported chronic pelvic pain. RESULTS: A total of 661 out of 1045 (63%) women who responded to the survey reported chronic pelvic pain. The multivariable analysis evidenced that chronic pelvic pain was related to physical and mental quality perception, pelvic floor disorders (adjusted odds ratio = 1.58; 95% CI = 1.10-2.27; p = 0.012), dyspareunia (adjusted odds ratio = 1.87; 95% CI = 1.31-2.65; p < 0.001), adhesions syndrome (adjusted odds ratio = 1.49; 95% CI = 1.05-2.11; p = 0.026), and the delay in diagnosing endometriosis (adjusted odds ratio = 1.04; 95% CI = 1.00-1.09; p = 0.034). The only social factor associated with chronic pelvic pain was marital status (adjusted odds ratio = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.46-0.93; p = 0.019). CONCLUSION: In the pandemic period, there was a very high prevalence of chronic pelvic pain in women with endometriosis in Italy. The pandemic highlighted the need for careful attention to diagnose endometriosis and the need for psychological and partner support, which would allow better pain management and prevent chronicity.

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_paindyspareunia

MeSH descriptors

COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

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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.

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