First worldwide study finds that women's productivity at work is significantly impacted by endometriosis

28 JUNE 2010

The first ever worldwide study of the societal impact of endometriosis has found a significant loss of work productivity among those women who suffer from the condition.

Endometriosis accounts for a significant loss of productivity of over 11 hours per woman per week - 38% more than those without endometriosis, Dr Kelechi Nnoaham, from the Department of Public Health and the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Oxford, UK, told the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today.  

Dr Nnoaham said that the results of his team’s study would help highlight the previously unrecognised plight of an estimated 176 million women around the world, whose lives are affected by endometriosis – a painful inflammatory disease which for many is chronic during their reproductive years.

Dr Nnoaham and colleagues recruited 1418 women aged 18-45 from 16 participating centres in ten countries across five continents to the Global Study of Women’s Health (GSWH), which is the first study to be funded by the World Endometriosis Research Foundation (WERF). The women were all scheduled to undergo a laparoscopy because of symptoms suggestive of endometriosis. Women who had been previously diagnosed with endometriosis were excluded. The participants were asked to complete a 67 item questionnaire, in their own language, about their symptoms and the impact these had on their lives. After surgical diagnosis, recorded in a standardised manner, the questionnaires were analysed comparing the impact of symptoms between women diagnosed with and without endometriosis. 

KEY FINDINGS:

• Women with endometriosis experienced an average delay of 7 years from symptom onset until they were finally diagnosed;
• Two thirds of women presented with symptoms before they were 30 years old (1/5 under the age of 19);
• 65% of women with endometriosis presented with pain, and 1/3 of these patients also  reported infertility;
• Infertility alone, without pain, was reported in 14% of patients with endometriosis and 29% of patients who did not have endometriosis.
• The severity of endometriosis (r-AFS disease stage) did not reflect the severity of a woman’s symptoms;
• The pain symptoms of endometriosis reduce quality of life, with the impact being mainly on physical, rather than mental, health. As symptoms become more severe, quality of life is further reduced;
• Women with endometriosis suffer a 38% greater loss of work productivity than women without endometriosis – this difference was mainly explained by a greater severity of pain symptoms among women with endometriosis; 
• Reduced effectiveness at work accounts for more loss of work productivity than time missed from work;
• Non-work related activities, such as housework, exercising, studying, shopping and childcare were also significantly impaired by the painful symptoms of endometriosis.
  
  
  
  

“Our research is the first ever prospective study to be undertaken in the field of endometriosis to assess the impact of the disease” said principal investigator, Dr Krina Zondervan, epidemiologist and senior scientist at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics.

“We now have to explore why endometriosis affects different women in different ways.  And, not only are we now able to build on these findings to look at how a woman’s experience of the diagnostic and treatment process can be improved, but the data registries resulting from the GSWH will serve as a repository for ongoing and future studies", said Dr Zondervan.

Dr Stephen Kennedy, WERF trustee, added: “Endometriosis affects women during the prime years of their lives, a time when they should be finishing an education, starting and maintaining a career, building relationships and perhaps have a family.  For these women to have their productivity affected, their quality of life compromised and their chances for starting a family reduced, is something society can no longer afford to ignore. It is time we see serious investment in preventing this debilitating condition in the next generation of women”, said Dr Kennedy.

More information about endometriosis

News in endometriosis

More information about the World Endometriosis Research Foundation