The Impact of Socioeconomic and Anamnestic Characteristics on Quality of Life and Sexual Function in Women with Endometriosis

Purpose The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of sociodemographic and anamnestic characteristics of women with deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) on the quality of life and sexual function. Methods It is a prospective cohort study including 200 women with pre-operative clinical and ultrasound diagnosis of DIE. They completed a pre-operative questionnaire regarding sociodemographic and anamnestic characteristics, a sexual activity questionnaire (Sexual Health Outcomes in Women Questionnaire [SHOW-Q]) and a quality of life questionnaire (Short Form-36 Health Survey [SF-36]). Results The mean values obtained for the SF-36 (50.7 ± 21.1) and SHOW-Q (56.4 ± 21.1) questionnaire showed an impairment of quality of life and sexual function. Women with a history of previous surgery had significantly lower scores of SF-36 and SHOW-Q questionnaires than women without (p< 0.05). The increase of body mass index (BMI) was positively correlated with an improvement of sexual function (p = 0.008). Postsecondary education was significantly associated with a better quality of life (p = 0.001). Conclusions Patients with DIE have an impairment of quality of life and sexual function. Educational level, BMI and previous surgery may influence quality of life and sexual function of women affected by DIE.