Endometriosis Linked to Mental Health Risk

Endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain (CPP) are associated with increased risk of mental health disorders and substance abuse, according to results of a study presented at AAGL Virtual 2020.

The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of 247,781 women aged 18 to 50 years presenting with CPP or endometriosis. Overall, they found that women with endometriosis (n = 3883) and CPP were significantly more likely to have depression (17.7% and 16.6%, respectively), post-traumatic stress disorder 91.2% and 1.1%, respectively), and anxiety (25.4% and 21.5%, respectively) compared with the general population.

Further, use of narcotics was nearly two-times greater in these women than in the general population (28.5% of endometriosis patients and 23.5% of CPP patients compared with 15.1% in the general population). Excision or fulguration of endometriosis was associated with decreased substance abuse.

“In addition to screening women with CPP and endometriosis for mental health disorders, surgery for excision of endometriosis in women with a diagnosis of endometriosis should be considered as a modality to decrease rates of substance abuse in this population. This data underscores the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to optimize care for these patients.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Miles S, Donnellan NM. Mental health diagnoses and opioid use among women with chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis. Presented at AAGL Virtual 2020. November 6-14. https://aagl.confex.com/aagl/2020/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/3848