Endometriosis, Pain and Mental Health

Endometriosis is a chronic and progressive disease which can significantly affect a woman's personal, as well as intimate and professional aspects of life. The aim of this study was to asses health-related quality of life and mental health status in patients with endometriosis, investigating also their relationship with endometriosis-related comorbid symptoms and conditions, such as pain and infertility.

An observational cross-sectional study involved 79 women with endometriosis. All patients filled the Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-5), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Their medical data were retrieved from medical records. Data was analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).

Of all the patients evaluated in our study, 44.3% presented depressive symptoms and 25.3% presented anxiety, while 31.7% reported stress symptoms. Moderate correlations were found between results on EHP-5 and depression (r=0.515), stress (r=0.558) and VAS score (r=0.565). Furthermore, weak positive relationship was observed between EHP-5 and anxiety (r=0.295) and infertility (r=0.267). Additionally, moderate correlation was found between depression and infertility (r=0.519), while there was weak association between VAS score and stress (r=0.236).

This study showed complex relationships between symptoms and conditions manifesting in patients with endometriosis. Due to diversity of symptoms, potentially including mental health issues, it is important to emphasize the need for combined personalized treatment for these patients, taking into account both physical and psychological aspect of the disease.