Stressful experiences impact on pain, fatigue and mental health in
people with endometriosis: a questionnaire study during the COVID-19
pandemic
Abstract
Objective To explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pain and
fatigue symptoms and their interactions with the impact on mental health
in people with endometriosis. Design Global cross-sectional survey.
Setting Online survey. Sample A total of 4717 adults with a surgical or
radiological diagnosis of endometriosis. Methods An online global study
collected data in 5 languages between 11th May to 8th June 2020. The
survey included questions on current-status and changes of
endometriosis-symptoms, mental health, demographics, and the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic on the respondents’ lives. Main Outcome Measures
Self-reported changes to endometriosis-associated symptoms (pelvic pain,
tiredness/fatigue, bleeding) and to mental health during the early
stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Respondents reported a marked
worsening of their endometriosis symptoms (endo-associated pain (39.3%;
95% CI [37.7, 40.5]), tiredness/fatigue (49.9%; 95% CI [48.4,
51.2]) and bleeding (39.6%; 95% CI [38.2, 41])) and mental
health (38.6%; 95% CI [37.2, 39.9]). Those with a pre-existing
mental health diagnosis (38.8%) were more negatively impacted. The
worsening of pain and TF were significantly correlated with worsening of
mental health (p<0.001) and these relationships were found to
be weakly mediated by pain catastrophising scores (pain: effect size:
0.071, LLCI= 0.060, ULCI= 0.082, TF: effect size: 0.050, LLCI= 0.040,
ULCI= 0.060). Conclusions This study demonstrates that stressful
experiences impact the physical and mental health of people with
endometriosis. The findings highlight the need to consider psychological
approaches in the holistic management of people with endometriosis.