The Impact of Chronic Pelvic Pain and Its Associated Symptoms on Women'S Quality of Life in a TERTiary Care Hospital in Brazil

Introduction Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common manifestation of multiple diseases, and might be related to gynecological, musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal causes. CPP is often associated with reduced quality of life (QOL). Objective To investigate whether pain intensity correlates negatively with the QOL in Brazilian women with CPP. Methods We recruited women with CPP referred to our outpatient service from December 2014 to December 2015. QOL was assessed using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) while clinical and demographic data were obtained using a standardized form. Statistics included Spearman's rank coefficient test and chi-square test. Results The total SF-36 score correlated negatively with pain intensity as measured by visual analog scale (rho = -0.46). Significant correlations were seen in the role-physical (rho = -0.596), physical functioning (rho = -0.463), role-emotional (rho = -0.402) and bodily pain (rho = -0.471) domains, but not in the other SF-36 domains. There was a positive association between presence of acyclic chronic pain and history of being at emergency rooms for pain control (p = 0.026, chi-square test). Conclusions Pain intensity correlates negatively with QOL in Brazilian women with CPP, but different QOL domains are affected in a heterogeneous fashion. Further research is needed in order to determine the specific reasons behind such differences.