Prevalence of Use and Perceived Effectiveness of Medical, Surgical, and Alternative Therapies for Endometriosis Pain in Canadians

Mahsa Gholiof, Gholiof M, Adamson-De Luca E, Emma Adamson-De Luca, Warren G Foster, Foster WG, Nicholas A Leyland, Leyland NA, Nicholas Leyland, Bridge-Cook P, Philippa Bridge-Cook, Mathew Leonardi, Wessels JM, Jocelyn M Wessels
Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Canada : JOGC = Journal d'obstetrique et gynecologie du Canada : JOGC · 2022 · vol. 45(1) , pp. 11–20 · doi:10.1016/j.jogc.2022.11.003 · PMID:36455861 · W4310169934
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 6 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study investigated the prevalence and perceived effectiveness of medical, surgical, and alternative therapies for endometriosis pain among Canadian women.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To describe the use and perceived effectiveness of medical, surgical, and alternative therapies (e.g., diet, exercise, heat, cannabis, etc.) in managing endometriosis-associated pain in Canadians. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed via The Endometriosis Network Canada (TENC) from February to March 2021. Canadians aged 18-50 years with diagnosed or suspected endometriosis were eligible to participate. RESULTS: A total of 434 survey responses were included, and 93.8% of respondents reported that they used at least 1 alternative therapy in the past 6 months for endometriosis-associated pain. Respondents used an array of medical (2.3/6 months), surgical (1.7/lifetime), and alternative therapies (6.9/6 months) to manage their pain, yet 61.9% of respondents did not feel it was adequately managed. The most common alternative therapies were heat, meditation/mindfulness/rest, and diet. CONCLUSION: Alternative therapies were commonly used by Canadians living with endometriosis to manage pain. Cannabis and heat were perceived as the most effective alternative therapies. Here, we gain a better understanding of alternative therapies that can provide an additional therapeutic avenue that clinicians and people living with endometriosis may wish to discuss and explore.

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis Cannabis

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 (29)

Cited by (6)

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