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Comparative Study
. 2008 Mar;89(3):538-45.
doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.03.069. Epub 2007 May 11.

Differences in characteristics among 1,000 women with endometriosis based on extent of disease

Ninet Sinaii  1 , Katherine Plumb, Louise Cotton, Ann Lambert, Stephen Kennedy, Krina Zondervan, Pamela Stratton
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Differences in characteristics among 1,000 women with endometriosis based on extent of disease

Ninet Sinaii et al. Fertil Steril. 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the relationship between disease severity and patient characteristics in endometriosis.

Design: Cross-sectional study of self-reported survey data.

Setting: Academic research setting.

Patient(s): One thousand women in the Oxford Endometriosis Gene (OXEGENE) study.

Intervention(s): None.

Main outcome measure(s): Participants were assigned to one of two groups with predominantly revised AFS stage I-II (group I, n = 423) or III-IV disease (group II, n = 517). Their characteristics were compared by disease extent.

Result(s): Most participants were white (96%) and of reproductive age (81%). Women in group I were significantly younger on entering the study (39.9 +/- 0.5 vs. 44.5 +/- 0.4 years). Overall time to diagnosis did not differ between groups. The most common symptoms leading to a diagnosis were dysmenorrhea (79%) and pelvic pain (69%). In group II, subfertility (21.5% vs. 30.0%) and an ovarian mass (7.3% vs. 29.4%) more commonly led to a diagnosis, whereas dyspareunia (51.1% vs. 39.5%) was significantly more common in group I. Subfertility (41.5% vs. 53.4%) remained more common in group II throughout reproductive life, although birth and miscarriage rates were similar.

Conclusion(s): Pelvic pain is common to all with endometriosis and those with more extensive disease report higher rates of subfertility. Remarkably, the time to diagnosis was similar among women.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Prevalence and overlap of gynecologic pain symptoms that led to the surgical diagnosis of 940 women with endometriosis who participated in the OXEGENE study. Footnote: 10.7% of women did not report any gynecologic pain symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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