Differences in characteristics among 1,000 women with endometriosis based on extent of disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between disease severity and patient characteristics in endometriosis.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of self-reported survey data.

SETTING: Academic research setting.

PATIENT(S): One thousand women in the Oxford Endometriosis Gene (OXEGENE) study.

INTERVENTION(S): None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Participants were assigned to one of two groups with predominantly revised AFS stage I-II (group I, n = 423) or III-IV disease (group II, n = 517). Their characteristics were compared by disease extent.

RESULT(S): Most participants were white (96%) and of reproductive age (81%). Women in group I were significantly younger on entering the study (39.9 +/- 0.5 vs. 44.5 +/- 0.4 years). Overall time to diagnosis did not differ between groups. The most common symptoms leading to a diagnosis were dysmenorrhea (79%) and pelvic pain (69%). In group II, subfertility (21.5% vs. 30.0%) and an ovarian mass (7.3% vs. 29.4%) more commonly led to a diagnosis, whereas dyspareunia (51.1% vs. 39.5%) was significantly more common in group I. Subfertility (41.5% vs. 53.4%) remained more common in group II throughout reproductive life, although birth and miscarriage rates were similar.

CONCLUSION(S): Pelvic pain is common to all with endometriosis and those with more extensive disease report higher rates of subfertility. Remarkably, the time to diagnosis was similar among women.