Endometriosis Symptomatology, Dyspareunia, and Sexual Distress Are Related to Avoidance of Sex and Negative Impacts on the Sex Lives of Women with Endometriosis

Georgia Privitera, Kerry O’Brien (), RoseAnne Misajon and Chung-Ying Lin
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Georgia Privitera: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton 3800, Australia
Kerry O’Brien: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton 3800, Australia
RoseAnne Misajon: The Cairnmillar Institute, Tooronga Road, Hawthorn East 3123, Australia
Chung-Ying Lin: Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-9

Abstract: Background: Endometriosis affects approximately 10% of women and is associated with a range of symptoms including pelvic pain, abnormal bleeding, and painful sexual intercourse. However, very little is known about the relationship between endometriosis-related symptoms and sex. Methods: Women with a diagnosis of endometriosis ( n = 2060; mean age = 30 years) completed a questionnaire measuring the frequency of endometriosis symptoms, dyspareunia, sexual distress, avoidance of sex, and the perceived negative impact of endometriosis symptoms on sex life. Results: In bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models with avoidance of sex and perceived negative impact of endometriosis symptoms on sex life as DVs, higher endometriosis symptom frequency, dyspareunia, and sexual distress were associated with greater avoidance of sex and higher perceived negative impact of endometriosis symptoms on sex life. With a two- and three-fold increase in the odds of avoiding sex and reporting a negative impact of endometriosis on sex lives, respectively, for each point increase in dyspareunia. Similarly, there was a 7% to 11% increase in avoidance of sex and the negative impact of endometriosis on sex lives, per one-point increase in symptom frequency and sexual distress. Conclusions: The results highlight the considerable impacts of endometriosis symptomatology on women’s sex lives and wellbeing. Better medical and counselling services may be needed to ameliorate the negative impact of endometriosis on women’s sex lives.

Keywords: endometriosis; sexual intercourse; pain; sexual avoidance; dyspareunia; symptomatology; sex life; pelvic pain; women’s health; sexual distress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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