Title: Long-term health related quality of life following Uterine Fibroid Embolization 1 in a predominantly black African population: A retrospective Cohort study

Title: Long-term health related quality of life following Uterine Fibroid Embolization 1 in a predominantly black African population: A retrospective Cohort study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Title: Long-term health related quality of life following Uterine Fibroid Embolization 1 in a predominantly black African population: A retrospective Cohort study Marleen Temmerman, Timona Obura, Adelaide Lusambili, Michael Kioko This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-267647/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) is one of the effective options available for treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids with documented improvement in the quality of life and reduction in symptoms. Most of the studies have demonstrated an improvement in the quality of life over a short to intermediate period. We carried out this study to assess the long-term quality of life following uterine fibroid embolization in a predominantly black population. There are no identified studies locally or in Africa addressing this issue whereas studies done elsewhere indicate a probable increased fibroid disease burden among black women. Methods: This was a retrospective single cohort study that recruited patients who had UFE between 2009-2014. Study participants were sampled consecutively, invited to the study and asked to fill an online general demographic tool and the UFS-QOL. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were done to test for statistical significance between HRQOL scores. Pearson correlation analysis was carried out to evaluate possible association between various independent factors and specific outcomes of interest such as quality of life and symptom severity score. Results: Data was obtained from 77 participants. The median duration after the initial UFE was eight years. The median health related quality of life was 88.6 (62.9-98.3). This was statistically significant from baseline median scores of similar studies. The median symptom severity score decreased from a baseline score of 54.7 (43.8-65.6) to 21.9 (6.3-42.2). This decrease was statistically significant (p-value <0.001). Twenty-four participants (31.1%) reported follow up fibroid treatments after the initial UFE procedure. Eleven participants (14.3%) reported major repeat procedures (myomectomy, hysterectomy and UFE) .Seventeen participants (22%) reported a pregnancy after the UFE procedure with ten participants (13 %) reporting to have had children after the UFE procedure. Conclusion: UFE results in clinically sustained improvement in health related quality of life and symptom control among patients with uterine fibroids. Sexual & Reproductive Medicine Uterine Fibroid Embolization Uterine Fibroid Symptom and Quality of Life questionnaire Health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL) Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revision 29 Mar, 2021 Reviews received at journal 07 Mar, 2021 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Mar, 2021 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Mar, 2021 Reviewers invited by journal 25 Feb, 2021 Editor assigned by journal 25 Feb, 2021 Editor invited by journal 25 Feb, 2021 Submission checks completed at journal 25 Feb, 2021 First submitted to journal 22 Feb, 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. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies 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-267647","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":13620869,"identity":"a3111ffd-746a-40f8-899b-0c8b5d290867","order_by":0,"name":"Marleen Temmerman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Aga Khan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marleen","middleName":"","lastName":"Temmerman","suffix":""},{"id":13620870,"identity":"28f97f0d-6340-4000-9a1e-01dcbbab9dcb","order_by":1,"name":"Timona Obura","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Aga Khan 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Most of the studies have demonstrated an improvement in the quality of life over a short to intermediate period. We carried out this study to assess the long-term quality of life following uterine fibroid embolization in a predominantly black population. There are no identified studies locally or in Africa addressing this issue whereas studies done elsewhere indicate a probable increased fibroid disease burden among black women. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e This was a retrospective single cohort study that recruited patients who had UFE between 2009-2014. Study participants were sampled consecutively, invited to the study and asked to fill an online general demographic tool and the UFS-QOL. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were done to test for statistical significance between HRQOL scores. Pearson correlation analysis was carried out to evaluate possible association between various independent factors and specific outcomes of interest such as quality of life and symptom severity score. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults: \u003c/strong\u003eData was obtained from 77 participants. The median duration after the initial UFE was eight years. The median health related quality of life was 88.6 (62.9-98.3). This was statistically significant from baseline median scores of similar studies. The median symptom severity score decreased from a baseline score of 54.7 (43.8-65.6) to 21.9 (6.3-42.2). This decrease was statistically significant (p-value \u0026lt;0.001). Twenty-four participants (31.1%) reported follow up fibroid treatments after the initial UFE procedure. 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