Tampon use in women with endometriosis

This study examines the potential role of vaginal tampons in women with endometriosis. In light of the fact that some medical practitioners view an appliance worn internally as a form of medical device, and in light of the recent knowledge about tampons gained during the crisis surrounding Toxic Shock Syndrome, little published information about women's menstrual patterns and practices was found. The data used here were provided by 470 members of the Endometriosis Association. These respondents' medical, surgical, and fertility case histories are stored in the Association's Data Registry housed at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Cases in this study are white; the average age is 31 +/- 5.2 years and 82 percent report use of tampons routinely. In contrast, general rates of tampon use, derived historically from several published studies using control groups matched to cases of Toxic Shock Syndrome were used for comparison. Results showed that rates of tampon use for women with endometriosis were similar to rates reported for the general population, 75 to 83 percent. We did find that within this group of mature white women, initiation of tampon use varied by age. Supporting Irwin and Millstein's study of tampon use in adolescent girls, an analysis of variance showed these women initiated tampon use at progressively earlier ages (p less than 0.001).