Psychological variables and quality of life in women with endometriosis

Endometriosis is a common gynecological condition which has been found to have a detrimental impact upon women's quality of life (QoL). This study investigated the impact of pain self-efficacy, health locus of control (HLOC), coping style and illness uncertainty on QoL in women with endometriosis.

Two hundred and thirty women completed online questionnaires. Standard multiple regressions assessed the relationship between the psychological predictors and QoL.

The psychological variables accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance (p < .0005) in scores across the four QoL domains. The model accounted for 55, 26, 10 and 32% of the scores in physical, psychological, social and environmental QoL domains, respectively. Pain self-efficacy made the largest unique contribution, followed by illness uncertainty.

Women's perception of their ability to manage their pain and how uncertain they felt about their condition, were important factors in QoL, particularly in the physical domain.